Anna S. Stephens.
New York, June 1, 1858.
The book has gone through various editions; its latest issue being in the uniform edition of her works, in 23 volumes, published in 1886, the year of the author’s death. It was also republished serially in the Pittston Gazette in 1878, at the time of the Centennial “In Memoriam” gatherings around the Wyoming Monument. But it has been for some years out of print and its historic value, its accurate transcription of Wyoming’s beautiful scenery and its vivid delineations, both of character and events, has led to this new edition in behalf of Dial Rock Chapter, Daughters of American Revolution.
Susan E. Dickinson.
Scranton, Pa., March 10, 1908.
MARY DERWENT
A Tale of the Wyoming Valley in 1778
CHAPTER I
THE VALLEY OF WYOMING
Monockonok Island lies in the stream of the Susquehanna, where the Valley of Wyoming presents its greenest fields and most level banks to the sunshine. It is a quiet little spot, lying dreamily in the river, which breaks and sparkles around it with a silvery tumult. The Indians have gathered up the music of these waters in a name that will live forever—Monockonok—rapid or broken waters. You scarcely notice the island amid the luxuriant scenery of Wyoming, it seems so insignificant in its prettiness. Hedges of black alder, hazel branches, and sedgy rushes stand in thickets, or droop in garlands along its shores.
A few miles below Monockonok, between a curve of the river and a picturesque sweep of the mountains, lies the town of Wilkesbarre, a gem among villages set in a haven of loveliness.