Thrifty Stock, and Other Stories

The first seven stories in this book have either locale or characters in common. The village called Fraternity is an actual one; and the surrounding countryside has a beauty which grows with long acquaintance. It is perhaps unnecessary to say that the characters are—with one exception—fictitious. The exception is Mr. A. L. McCorrison, better known as Bert McCorrison, who introduced the author to the trout brooks and the woodcock covers thereabouts. He appears in some of the stories, under the name of Chet McAusland. The third story in the book, «Old Tantrybogus,» is—so far as the dog is concerned—a true story. The last two stories in the Fraternity group, «Jeshurun Waxed Fat» and «Epitome,» together with the succeeding seven, are each less than four thousand words in length. These stories represent successive attempts to combine brevity with other and more elusive attributes.