Agnes Christina Laut was a prolific author of fiction and popular history in the first decades of the twentieth century. Her success can be gauged by the extensive republication of her books during her lifetime and their current availability in most libraries today. She was born in Stanley township, Huron County, Ontario, on 11 February 1871 to John Laut, a merchant from Glasgow, and Eliza George Laut, a daughter of Rev. James George, D.D., vice-principal of Queen's University from 1853 to 1857. When Laut was two years old her family moved to Winnipeg, where the future author became well acquainted with western frontier life. At the age of fifteen she completed normal school, and although she was too young to receive a teaching certificate, she acted as a substitute in a prairie school. Several years of teaching in Winnipeg preceded her enrollment at the University of Manitoba. Because of ill health...