A WORD AT THE

BEGINNING

IN the olden days people peered about in the world for the fountain of perpetual youth. Nowadays they are wiser. They find a hobby—an enthusiasm, by which the old are made young and the young are made wise and happy. This is the story of the camera hobby; of an amateur photographer and his chums; of a boy’s adventures in the company of his camera; of a camera club and the old and young brought together by the influence of a common interest; of journeys in search of the picturesque; of problems, struggles, and surprises. The pictures are not by any means always intended to show my readers how photographs should be made, but rather to suggest the interest of familiar and accessible things, and that the best thing about a photograph is not always the thing we wished or expected to put in it. For assistance in the form of pictures at the Montauk camp I am indebted to my friend, Mr. Walter Hammitt.

A. B.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE
I.The Coming of the Camera[13]
II.The Fire[33]
III.Under the Red Lamp[43]
IV.An Ill-kept Secret[53]
V.The Dark-room Mystery[65]
VI.Detective Dobbs[73]
VII.In New York[91]
VIII.Two Arrests[101]
IX.Great Expectations[115]
X.The Camera Club[129]
XI.At Coney Island[151]
XII.Big Wolf and Company[165]
XIII.A Touch-down[179]
XIV.The Sailing of the “Arabella”[191]
XV.A Changed Sky[203]
XVI.An Unexpected Visitor[225]
XVII.Winter Days[241]
XVIII.Echoes of War[255]
XIX.Returned Heroes[271]