He had hoped
after finishing a book of travel, having crossed the ocean many times and
been in many lands, and doing some other active work in public life, to
take a trip around the world and rest, but rest came in another way.
Sarah K. Bolton
Cleveland, Ohio.
PREFACE
Mr. W.D. Howells, in reply to a literary society in Ashtabula County,
Ohio, said that most people had within their personal experience one
book.
I have often quoted Howells's words to my best friend, who has written a
score of books, and the answer as frequently comes, "Why not write a book
yourself?" Encouraged by Howells's belief, and stimulated by the accepted
challenge of my friend, to whom I promised a completed book in twelve
months, I found time during a very busy year to pencil the chapters that
follow. Most of the book was written while waiting at stations, or on the
cars, and in hotels, using the spare moments of an eight-months' lecture
season, and the four months at home occupied by business.
I am aware that some critics decry a novel written with a purpose. Permit
me therefore in advance to admit that this book has a double purpose: To
test the truth of Howells's words as applied to myself; and to describe a
journey, both at home and abroad, which may possibly be enjoyed by the
reader, the inconveniences of travel being lessened by incidentally
tracing a love story to a strange but perhaps satisfactory conclusion;
the whole leading to the evolution of a successful experiment, which in
fragments is being tried in various parts of the civilized world.
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25