[Original]
Dedicated To
My Little Friend
Ralph Cyril Lockhart Brandon.
Known As “Boy.”
[Original]
MY DEAR LITTLE FRIENDS,—
In the Preface to my last book I told you that when I closed my eyes I seemed to see hundreds of dear Children’s faces turned towards me asking for a story; and now, as so many copies of that book have been sold, I am bound to believe that not hundreds, but thousands, of little friends, to whom I was this time last year a stranger, are expecting another story from my pen.