ONIVEKSTTY OF CALIFORNIA 



THORPE RUFF 



PREFATORY NOTE 



T WONDER if there is still room for me in the 

 small corner of the literary world into which I 

 have so many times ventured, and in which I have 

 always been received with kindness for which I am 

 indeed very grateful. Not only has the press 

 uniformly overlooked my shortcomings and treated 

 me generously, but hundreds of private corre- 

 spondents from all parts of the world have cheered 

 me greatly by taking the trouble to tell me they 

 have found pleasure in reading my books. 



In going through this pile of old letters, 1 came 

 across one which has truly touched me profoundly. 

 The writer is a retired Banker, and a philanthropist, 

 who goes about the world trying to mend it. At 

 one time he writes to me from Cairo, and begs me 

 to join him on a trip up tJie Nile. At another time 

 he turns up in Arizona ; " in the desert country," 



