A CROWN OF STRAW
A
CROWN OF STRAW
BY
ALLEN UPWARD
AUTHOR OF
“THE QUEEN AGAINST OWEN,” “THE PRINCE OF
BALKISTAN,” ETC.
NEW YORK
DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY
1896
Copyright, 1896,
By Dodd, Mead and Company.
University Press:
John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, U. S. A.
PREFACE
The term novel has been made to cover books of such diverse character, now-a-days, that the reader is almost entitled to demand of a novelist that he shall affix some distinct label to the book he is putting forth, and make it clear beforehand whether his work is a dialogue on religion, a satire on morals, a political tract, a study in slum life, or a mere romance. This consideration must serve as my excuse for saying a few words about the ideas which have guided me in writing the present work; although I shall incur the danger of a comparison between the moon at which I have aimed, and the humble tree which I have hit.