Excerpt from The World's Greatest Books, Vol. 2: Fiction One damp, misty March morning, I dismounted from the top Of a coach in the yard Of a London inn. Deliver ing my scanty baggage to a porter, I followed him to a lodging prepared for me by an acquaintance. It con sisted Of a small room in which I was to sit, and a smaller: one still in which I was to sleep. Having breakfasted comfortably by a good fire, I sallied forth and easily found my way to the place I was in quest Of, for it was scarcely ten minutes' walk dis tant. I was cordially received by the big man to whom some Of my productions had been sent by a kind friend, and to whom he had given me a letter Of introduction, which was respectfully read. But he informed me that he was selling his publishing business, and SO could not make use Of my literary help. He gave me counsel, however, especially advising me to write some evangelical tales, in the style Of the Dairyman's Daughter. As I told him I had never heard Of that work, he said Then, sir, procure it by all means. Much more con versation ensued, during which the publisher told me that he purposed continuing to issue once a month his maga zine, the Oxford Review, and to this he proposed that I should attempt to contribute. AS I was going away he invited me to dine with him on the ensuing Sunday. 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.