On the cue 'five aunts' I had given at the knees a trifle, for the thought of being confronted with such a solid gaggle of aunts, even if those of another, was an unnerving one. Reminding myself that in this life it is not aunts that matter, but the courage that one brings to them, I pulled myself together.

The stationmaster's whiskers are of a Victorian bushiness and give the impression of having been grown under glass.

As far as the eye could reach, I found myself gazing on a surging sea of aunts. There were tall aunts, short aunts, stout aunts, thin aunts, and an aunt who wa…

Breakfast had been prepared by the kitchen maid, an indifferent performer who had used the scorched earth policy on the bacon again.

Speak, speak, let terror strike slaves mute, Much danger makes great hearts most resolute.

It takes a good deal of physical courage to ride a horse. This, however, I have. I get it at about forty cents a flask, and take it as required.

Dedication: To my daughter Leonora without whose never-failing sympathy and encouragement this book would have been finished in half the time.