INTRODUCTION 



IN coming before the public with a newly made 

 edition of my writings, what can I say to my reader 

 at this stage of our acquaintance that will lead to 

 a better understanding between us ? Probably no- 

 thing. We understand each other very well already. 

 I have offered myself as his guide to certain matters 

 out of doors, and to a few matters indoors, and he 

 has accepted me upon my own terms, and has, on 

 the whole, been better pleased with me than I had 

 any reason to expect. For this I am duly grateful ; 

 why say more ? Yet, now that I am upon my feet, 

 so to speak, and palaver is the order, I will keep on 

 a few minutes longer. 



It is now nearly a quarter of a century since my 

 first book, " Wake-Robin," was published. I have 

 lived nearly as many years in the world as I had 

 lived when I wrote its principal chapters. Other 

 volumes have followed, and still others. When 

 asked how many there are, I often have to stop 

 and count them up. I suppose the mother of a 

 large family does not have to count up her children 

 to say how many there are. She sees their faces 

 all before her. It is said of certain savage tribes 



