xviii INTRODUCTORY NOTE 



They well deserve to be. And may they set 

 many another man upon the same delight- 

 ful quest that he has so profitably followed. 

 It was the j oiliest of chronic invalids who 

 said : — 



*' The world is so full of a number of things, 

 I 'm sure we should all be as happy as kings " ; 



which is well enough, of course, in its old- 

 fashioned way, though I suppose it is al- 

 lowable in these days to doubt whether the 

 average king, for all the glories of his birth 

 and state, is so very much to be envied. 

 " Even in a palace life may be lived well." 

 Yes, and even on a throne a man may per- 

 adventure be happy; but how much hap- 

 pier, did he but know it, in the saddle of a 

 pet hobby horse, ambling at his ease, morn- 

 ing after morning, over the pleasant malls 

 of a quiet city garden. 



Bradford Torrey. 



Santa Barbara, California, 

 January 7, 1909. 



