It may interest the readers of this collection of tales, if there
should be any such, to know that the incidents upon which the
stories are based are unfortunately wholly truthful. They have one
and all come under the author's observation during the past ten
years, and with the exception of "Mr. Bradley's Jewel," concerning
whom it is expressly stated that she was employed through lack of
other available material, not one of the servants herein made famous
or infamous, as the case may be, was employed except upon
presentation of references written by responsible persons that could
properly have been given only to domestics of the most sterling
character. It is this last fact that points the moral of the tales
here presented, if it does not adorn them.