Front Matter

THe long lines of richly laden beasts would wind slowly over the desert.

Introduction

The author of this work makes no pretense of originality in the telling of these stories of olden times. They have been gleaned from many sources, and are the common heritage of all who love to write them anew and hear them again. Only the words belong to the story teller; the story itself is as old as the race.

In the lapse of years and with the much telling of these stories there is no longer a line between fact and fiction. How much is true and how much is false does not matter; the story itself is the thing, and one need not worry whether it really happened or not. Much of it is palpable fiction, but much of it is true. Let us not be too critical of a story when it is a few hundred years old.

At any rate, the stories herein contained are a part of the great inheritance that the boys and girls of this day have received from the past, and to which they are entitled in all fullness and freedom. If the reading of them shall add anything to the enjoyment or to the information of those who are always young in heart because they always thrill at romance and adventure, the writer of these old time tales will be amply repaid.