THE BOOK OF DREAMS AND GHOSTS





PREFACE TO THE NEW IMPRESSION


Since the first edition of this book appeared (1897) a considerable
number of new and startling ghost stories, British, Foreign and
Colonial, not yet published, have reached me. Second Sight abounds.
Crystal Gazing has also advanced in popularity. For a singular series
of such visions, in which distant persons and places, unknown to the
gazer, were correctly described by her, I may refer to my book, The
Making of Religion (1898). A memorial stone has been erected on the
scene of the story called "The Foul Fords" (p. 269), so that tale is
likely to endure in tradition.

July, 1899.




PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION


The chief purpose of this book is, if fortune helps, to entertain
people interested in the kind of narratives here collected. For the
sake of orderly arrangement, the stories are classed in different