whose name may not be written but to whose tireless
faith the shaping of these cruder thoughts to forms
more fitly perfect is doubtless due, this
finished work is herewith dedicated
_Note_
He who would tell a tale must look toward three ideals: to tell it well,
to tell it beautifully, and to tell the truth.
The first is the Gift of God, the second is the Vision of Genius, but
the third is the Reward of Honesty.
In _The Quest of the Silver Fleece_ there is little, I ween, divine or
ingenious; but, at least, I have been honest. In no fact or picture have
I consciously set down aught the counterpart of which I have not seen or
known; and whatever the finished picture may lack of completeness, this
lack is due now to the story-teller, now to the artist, but never to the
herald of the Truth.