AUTHOR OF "THE ROUGH ROAD," "THE RED PLANET,"
"THE WONDERFUL YEAR," "THE BELOVED VAGABOND," ETC.
NEW YORK: JOHN LANE COMPANY
LONDON: JOHN LANE, THE BODLEY HEAD
TORONTO: S. B. GUNDY
MCMXIX
COPYRIGHT, 1919, BY
JOHN LANE COMPANY
THE PLIMPTON PRESS
NORWOOD, MASS. U.S.A.
_TO THE READER_
_DEAR SIR OR MADAM:--_
_Good wine needs no bush, but a collection of mixed vintages does. And
this book is just such a collection. Some of the stories I do not want
to remain buried for ever in the museum files of dead
magazine-numbers--an author's not unpardonable vanity; others I have
resuscitated from the same vaults in the hope that they still may
please you._
_The title of a volume of short stories is always a difficult matter.
It ought to indicate frankly the nature of the book so that the unwary
purchaser shall have no grievance (except on the score of merit, which
is a different affair altogether) against either author or publisher.
In my title I have tried to solve the problem. But why "Far-away?"
Well, the stories cover a long stretch of years, and all, save one,
were written in calm days far-away from the present convulsion of the
world._
_Anyhow, no one will buy the book under the impression that it is a
novel, and, finding that it isn't, revile me as a cheat. And so I have
the pleasure of offering it for your perusal with a clear conscience._
_You, Dear Sir or Madam, have given me, this many a year, an indulgence
beyond my deserts. Till now, I have had no opportunity of thanking
you. I do now with a grateful heart, and to you I dedicate the two
stories that I love the best, hoping that they may excuse those for
which you may not so much care, and that they may win continuance of
that which is to me, both as a writer and as a human being, my most
cherished possession, namely, your favourable regard for_
_Your most humble and obedient Servant to command,_
_W. J. LOCKE_
_June_, 1919