Children of the Dear Cotswolds

CHILDREN OF THE DEAR COTSWOLDS
L. ALLEN HARKER
AUTHOR OF MISS ESPERANCE AND MR. WYCHERLY, ETC.
LONDON JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET, W. 1918
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Copyright in the United States of America by L. Allen Harker.
OTHER WORKS BY L. ALLEN HARKER
JAN AND HER JOB THE FFOLLIOTS OF REDMARLEY A ROMANCE OF THE NURSERY MASTER AND MAID MISS ESPERANCE AND MR. WYCHERLY MR. WYCHERLY'S WARDS
JOHN MURRAY, LONDON
THE COUNTESS BATHURST
Dear to you, too, the small uplandish town, The steep stone roofs, the graceful gabled street, The great beech woods, the rolling purple down, The golden fields that shimmer in the heat With molten glow of buttercups ablaze— Dear to you, too. Dear to you, too, the folk, slow-spoken, kind, Wise with a mother-wisdom not of books; The sturdy Cotsal-bred of cautious mind, That judges men by doin's, not by looks, With sapient nods and trenchant homely phrase— Dear to you, too. And since you love them well—people and land— I bring you stories of them—just a few Old folk and young—in hope you'll let them stand With others that I wot of dear to you. How happy should these prove in future days— Dear to you, too.
FOREWORD