Fiction > Book editions > London, 1889 - Master of Ballantrae

Sir ^m\2 glamm aitb f atijr SljcIIcn.
Here is a tale which extends over many years and travels into many
countries. By a peculiar fitness of circumstance the writer began,
continued it, and concluded it among- distant and diverse scenes.
Above all, he was much upon the sea. The character and fortune
of the fraternal enemies, the hall and shrubbery of Durrisdeer,
the problem of MackeUar's homespun and how to shape it for
superior flights ; these were his company on deck in many star-
reflecting harbours, ran often in his mind at sea to the tune of
slatting canvas, and were dismissed (something of the suddenest)
on the approach of squalls. It is my hope that these surround-
ings of its manufacture may to some degree find favour for my
story with seafarers and sea-lovers like yourselves.
And at least here is a dedication from a great way off: written
by the loud shores of a subtropical island near upon ten thousand
miles from Boscombe Chine and Manor : scenes wliich rise before
me as I write, along with the faces and voices of my friends.
Well, I am for the sea once more ; no doubt Sir Percy also.
Let us make the signal B. R. D, !
R. L. S.
WaiivIKI, 3Iai/ 17, 1889.