Copyright, 1905, by Doubleday, Page & Company Published June, 1905
All rights reserved, including that of translation into foreign languages, including the Scandinavian.
DEDICATED TO MY DAUGHTER Olive Marie Adams
TO THE READER
John Henry Smith has requested me to revise and edit his diary, and, to use his own expression, "See if I can make some kind of a book from it." It was his idea that I should eliminate certain marked passages, and disguise others, so as to conceal the identity of the originals. Since Mr. Smith is abroad I can do as I please. Aside from renaming his characters, I have left them exactly as he has drawn them. This may lead him to do his own editing in the future.
I have also taken the liberty of reproducing some of the sketches made by Mr. Smith. In addition to literary, artistic, and athletic gifts Mr. Smith has had the rare good fortune to—but I must not anticipate his story.
THE EDITOR
Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y.