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KIDNAPPED
BEING MEMOIRS OF THE ADVENTURES OF DAVID
BALFOUR IN THE YEAR 1751
WRITTEN BY HIMSELF
AND NOW SET FORTH BY
ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON
NEW YORK
CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS
1946
Copyright, 1905, 1913, by
CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS
Printed in the United States of America
All rights reserved. No part of this book
may be reproduced in any form without
the permission of Charles Scribner’s Sons
My Dear Charles Baxter:
If you ever read this tale, you will likely ask yourself more questionsthan I should care to answer: as for instance how the Appin murder hascome to fall in the year 1751, how the Torran rocks have crept so nearto Earraid, or why the printed trial is silent as to all that touchesDavid Balfour. These are nuts beyond my ability to crack. But if youtried me on the point of Alan’s guilt or innocence, I think I coulddefend the reading of the text. To this day you will find the traditionof Appin clear in Alan’s favour. If you inquire, you may even hear thatthe descendants of “the other man” who fired the shot are in the countryto this day. But that other man’s name, inquire as you please, you shallnot hear; for the Highlander values a secret for itself and for thecongenia