Originally I expected they would not exceed what could be read in a couple of hours or so. As I proceeded, the field opened up, and I soon found that they would extend to a much greater length than I had contemplated; for, while thinking over some of the incidents I was writing about, others, long forgotten, came crowding on my memory, and of course had also to be incorporated among the rest. I have throughout attempted, as far as possible, to avoid the difficulty of making any particular selection that might be interesting, amusing, or instructive to the general reader, and have preferred to write these reminiscences and folklore "free off hand" as if crackin' wi' a worthy crony.
