CONTENTS
CHAPTER I. WHICH REALLY IS A PREFACE IN DISGUISE
CHAPTER II. THE START OF A DREAM
CHAPTER III. THREE YEARS ELAPSE
CHAPTER IV. HAPPY DAYS FOR MAJOR GLOOM
CHAPTER V. IN WHICH WE BORE FOE WATER
CHAPTER VI. TWO MORE YEARS ELAPSE
CHAPTER VIII, THE ADVENTURE OF LADY MAUDE
CHAPTER IX. US LANDED PROPRIETORS
It is the inclination of the average reader to skip prefaces. For this Ido not in the least blame him. Skipping the preface is one of my favoriteliterary pursuits. To catch me napping a preface must creep up quietly andtake me, as it were, unawares.
But in this case sundry prefatory remarks became necessary. It wasessential that they should be inserted into this volume in order thatcertain things might be made plain. The questions were: How and where?After giving the matter considerable thought I decided to slip them inright here, included, as they are, with the body of the text and furtherdisguised by masquerading themselves under a chapter heading, with a viewin mind of hoodwinking you into pursuing the course of what briefly I haveto say touching on the circumstances attending the production of the maincontents. Let me explain:
Chapter II, coming immediately after this one, was written first of all;written as an independent contribution to American letters. At the time ofwriting it I had no thought that out of it, subsequently, would growmaterial for additional and supplementary offerings upon the same generaltheme and inter-related themes. It had a basis of verity, as all things inthis life properly should have, but I shall not attempt to deny thatlargely it deals with what more or less is figurative and fanciful. Theincident of the finding of the missing will in the ruins of the old millis a pure figment of the imagination; so, too, the passage relating to thesearch for the lost heir (Page 55) and the startling outcome of thatsearch.
Three years later, actual events in the meantime having sufficientlyjustified the taking of such steps, I prepared the matter which here ispresented in Chapters III, IV and V, inclusive. Intervened then a break ofapproximately two years more, when the tale was completed substantially inits present form. In all of these latter installments I adhered closely tofacts, merely adding here and there sprinklings of fancy, like dashes ofpaprika on a stew, in order to give, as I fondly hoped, spice to myrecital.
One of the prime d