_The Nice People_, by Henry Cuyler Bunner, is republished from
his volume, _Short Sixes_, by permission of its publishers,
Charles Scribner’s Sons. _The Buller-Podington Compact_, by
Frank Richard Stockton, is from his volume, _Afield and Afloat_,
and is republished by permission of Charles Scribner’s Sons.
_Colonel Starbottle for the Plaintiff_, by Bret Harte, is from the
collection of his stories entitled _Openings in the Old Trail_,
and is republished by permission of the Houghton Mifflin Company,
the authorized publishers of Bret Harte’s complete works. _The
Duplicity of Hargraves_, by O. Henry, is from his volume, _Sixes
and Sevens_, and is republished by permission of its publishers,
Doubleday, Page & Co. These stories are fully protected by
copyright, and should not be republished except by permission of
the publishers mentioned. Thanks are due Mrs. Grace MacGowan Cooke
for permission to use her story, _A Call_, republished here from
_Harper’s Magazine_; Wells Hastings, for permission to reprint his
story, _Gideon_, from _The Century Magazine_; and George Randolph
Chester, for permission to include _Bargain Day at Tutt House_,
from _McClure’s Magazine_. I would also thank the heirs of the
late lamented Colonel William J. Lampton for permission to use his
story, _How the Widow Won the Deacon_, from _Harper’s Bazaar_.
These stories are all copyrighted, and cannot be republished except
by authorization of their authors or heirs. The editor regrets
that their publishers have seen fit to refuse him permission to
include George W. Cable’s story, “_Posson Jone’_,” and Irvin S.
Cobb’s story, _The Smart Aleck_. He also regrets he was unable to
obtain a copy of Joseph C. Duport’s story, _The Wedding at Timber
Hollow_, in time for inclusion, to which its merits—as he remembers
them—certainly entitle it. Mr. Duport, in addition to his literary
activities, has started an interesting “back to Nature” experiment
at Westfield, Massachusetts.
To
CHARLES GOODRICH WHITING
Critic, Poet, Friend