Page:The Story of the House of Cassell (book).djvu/233

 heard of some young man who was an egg collector. It was Richard Kearton. Notes were wanted for the eggs which were to be the subjects of separate plates in Swaysland's book, and Kearton undertook the job, performing it, as he did all his work, with thoroughness.

The brothers had already begun to take photographs which were obviously of rare excellence. When Mr. Cross showed them to Sir Wemyss Reid he was fascinated by them. Richard had cherished very modest ideas, and would have been quite satisfied with a five-shilling or seven-and-sixpenny book. But the firm was convinced that they deserved a much better setting, and the rapid sale of the guinea book which was produced proved the firm to be right.

The life of Richard Kearton shows that things which seem disastrous may be just the reverse. His throat troubled him, and he was advised to see a physician, whose verdict was that he must leave London at once to dwell in purer air: there was no chance of a cure while he remained in the dusty City. That same day he left the office for his home in the Caterham Valley. Thus cut off from his daily work he began lecturing, and immediate success attended his efforts, while his books grew rapidly in popularity.

Cherry Kearton, without losing his interest in bird life, presently developed another ambition: he wanted to photograph big game. And before long he embarked upon that enterprise, and came back with an abundance of thrilling photographs to illustrate his adventures. Later, he journeyed across Africa on foot, from east to west, taking a number of unique camera pictures, which were published in a fascinating volume in 1915. A long succession of books written by one or other of the brothers—or both, in collaboration—has been issued from La Belle Sauvage Press, and some even of the earliest still command a steady sale.

Of works on Astronomy done at La Belle Sauvage the most popular have been those of the late Sir Robert