People

By Spencer Davidson

Eighty-six years after his death, the name of Horatio Alger Jr. still conjures up unlikely memories of improbable dreams. In more than 100 of Alger's books for young readers, upstanding, hardwork- ing poor boys reached sudden and unexpected success by saving rich benefactors from terrible fates. But it turns out that Alger had a dream of his own -- to appeal to grownups. This July the Shoe String Press will publish for the first time Alger's Mabel Parker; or, The Hidden Treasure, a story of true love triumphing over mere monetary pursuits. Now in the archives at Syracuse University, the manuscript originally had a fate most unbecoming to a Horatio Alger story. Just before it was scheduled to be printed in 1878, the publishing house, hard work and all, went bankrupt.