poor word for any honour that might accrue to him for his part in
the book."

This was the nucleus of the book, but the story itself originated
from the fact that one day, while leaving the swamp, a big
feather with a shaft over twenty inches long came spinning and
swirling earthward and fell in the author's path. Instantly she
looked upward to locate the bird, which from the size and
formation of the quill could have been nothing but an eagle; her
eyes, well trained and fairly keen though they were, could not
see the bird, which must have been soaring above range. Familiar
with the life of the vulture family, the author changed the bird
from which the feather fell to that described in "Freckles." Mrs.
Porter had the old swamp at that time practically untouched, and
all its traditions to work upon and stores of natural history
material. This falling feather began the book which in a few days
she had definitely planned and in six months completely written.
Her title for it was "The Falling Feather," that tangible thing
which came drifting down from Nowhere, just as the boy came, and
she has always regretted the change to "Freckles." John Murray
publishes a British edition of this book which is even better
liked in Ireland and Scotland than in England.

As "The Cardinal" was published originally not by Doubleday, Page
& Company, but by another firm, the author had talked over with
the latter house the scheme of "Freckles" and it had been agreed
to publish the story as soon as Mrs. Porter was ready. How the
book finally came to Doubleday, Page & Company she recounts as
follows: