AUTHOR'S APOLOGY Which has come to be a customary and expected feature, and is, at least, the polite thing to do. It seems eminently proper that the unsophisticated and trusting reader should be warned in time, that he may not fall into unlooked-for mental and moral gins and pitfalls. Therefore, the present author proposes to relieve his conscience by stating boldly at the outset that some of the enclosed gems were written, as opportunity offered or occasion required, for various functions of the Midlothian Country Club; while others, and by far the larger part, have no excuse whatever for their existence, and had better be perused with a wet cloth about the temples and the smelling-salts near at hand. Strange as it may seem, these waifs have tickled the fancy of many of the aforesaid Club members; and it is in response to this demand, and through the courtesy of Messrs. R. R. Donnelley & Sons Co., that these "trifles light as air" are now committed to imperishable type, and the author's gratitude is hereby expressed. 230729 |