Excerpt from Moulding a Maiden But I must be careful. A critic whose article has just fallen under my observation accuses me of boastfulness, because I once before alluded to the success of my ventures in the literary field. Let me assure him that I did it rather in a spirit of grati tude and appreciation than of undue pride. I have not yet ceased to wonder that the American public has chosen to purchase, in so short a time, nearly half a million copies of my works. I am continually surprised at the figures which my publisher gives me, and at the statements of traveling friends that hardly a book-stand from Bangor to the Pacific is without these volumes. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.