THE BLACK ARROW--A TALE OF THE TWO ROSES

Critic on the Hearth:

No one but myself knows what I have suffered, nor what my books have

gained, by your unsleeping watchfulness and admirable pertinacity. And

now here is a volume that goes into the world and lacks your

imprimatur: a strange thing in our joint lives; and the reason of it

stranger still! I have watched with interest, with pain, and at length

with amusement, your unavailing attempts to peruse The Black Arrow; and

I think I should lack humour indeed, if I let the occasion slip and did

not place your name in the fly-leaf of the only book of mine that you

have never read--and never will read.

That others may display more constancy is still my hope. The tale was

written years ago for a particular audience and (I may say) in rivalry

with a particular author; I think I should do well to name him, Mr.

Alfred R. Phillips. It was not without its reward at the time. I could

not, indeed, displace Mr. Phillips from his well-won priority; but in the

eyes of readers who thought less than nothing of Treasure Island, The