THERE are in this world some terrible people who know everything. There are some others who think they do. To such persons this little book is not addressed. But if any plain folk can find in it anything which is new to them, or anything which may amuse them, my utmost ambition will be amply satisfied.
It may contain some errors, but none, I trust, of a vital character. In the case of matters culled from other quarters, I have given the source from which such matters are drawn, save in some few instances where I had unfortunately preserved no record of such source.
Some portions of the whole have previously appeared—from my own pen-in sundry magazines and serials. These, however, have been materially modified, extended, and emended; and the editors of the publications referred to have not withheld their consent to their embodiment in this volume.