books, and she is tired of coming in contact with their ignorant maligners." She had no desire to pose as a reformer, but it was a constant source of irritation to her that people who were in position to do so did not avail themselves of the opportunity to improve existing conditions a little. Of her hardships, Sheldon refused to talk, on the grounds that a "tale of woe" was never interesting to anyone but the teller. To quote her own words, she was "endowed with an inheritance of poverty, poor health and ambition, which prove, under any environments, a damnable mixture." With this handicap, she was forced to begin the struggle of life and, to add to her difficulties, she declared further she "was born with a spirit which could not tolerate rebuke and a mettle which would yield to no discipline whatever. I felt that I bad been wronged from the hour of my conception," she said, "and a feeling of resentment was the first sentiment of my nature." With this sentiment predominating, Sheldon could not and would not tread the only paths which were open to women in her position; she was determined to travel on the plane of her own inclinations or not travel at all, and her course was marked at every step with the bruises of collision with obstacles which a more acquiescent nature would not have encountered. Sheldon was a prominent suffragist. In 1916 in Maine, she founded the Women's Defense Club with a purpose to "instruct American women to shoot, and shoot straight". On November 20, 1904, (or November 20, 1903) she married Judge Isaac F. Ferris of York County, Maine, who had been a journalist in his early career. Childless, she died in Maine on June 11, 1945. Selected works By Lurana W. Sheldon Death to the Inquisitive!: A Story of Sinful Love, 1892 Is this your God?, 1900 Whom god hath joined together, and The curse upon progress, 1900 For Gold or Soul?: The Story of a Great Department Store, 1900 As we forgive : a romance, 1928 For Love Or Gold?: A Romance, 1928 For Love Or Gold?: The Story of a Great Department Store, 1928 By Stanley Norris The young showman's triumph, or, a Grand tour on the road, 1903 The young showman's rivals; ups and downs of the road, 1903 The young showman's pluck; or, An unknown