and peace of these people, who had resigned the world and "life on the plane
of Adam," vowing themselves to celibacy, to public confession of sins, and the
holding of goods in common,--all this has always had a certain exquisite and
helpful influence upon my thought, and Mr. W. D. Howells paid a far more
beautiful tribute to them in "The Undiscovered Country."

It is needless to say that I read every word of the book to my Shaker friends
before it was published. They took a deep interest in it, evincing keen
delight in my rather facetious but wholly imaginary portrait of "Brother
Ansel," a "born Shaker," and sadly confessing that my two young lovers,
"Hetty" and "Nathan," who could not endure the rigors of the Shaker faith and
fled together in the night to marry and join the world's people,--that this
tragedy had often occurred in their community.

Here, then, are the three simple homespun tales. I believe they are true to
life as I see it. I only wish my readers might hear the ripple of the Maine
river running through them; breathe the fragrance of New England for-ests, and
though never for a moment getting, through my poor pen, the atmosphere of
Maine's rugged cliffs and the tang of her salt sea air, they might at least
believe for an instant that they had found a modest Mayflower in her pine
woods.

KATE DOUGLAS WIGGIN. July, 1920.




CONTENTS