I cannot close this record of a boy's development without an attempt to
suggest the sense of deep personal pleasure which I feel that the
imprint on the title-page of this book should be that of the publishing
house which, thirty-six years ago, I entered as stenographer. It was
there I received my start; it was there I laid the foundation of that
future career then so hidden from me. The happiest days of my young
manhood were spent in the employ of this house; I there began
friendships which have grown closer with each passing year. And one of
my deepest sources of satisfaction is, that during all the thirty-one
years which have followed my resignation from the Scribner house, it has
been my good fortune to hold the friendship, and, as I have been led to
believe, the respect of my former employers. That they should now be my
publishers demonstrates, in a striking manner, the curious turning of
the wheel of time, and gives me a sense of gratification difficult of
expression.