Transcriber’s Note:
The cover image was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.
A DEMURE LITTLE CROWD THEY WERE, STANDING PRIMLY, HAND IN HAND
GIRLS IN BOOKLAND
A WORD BEFORE THE STORY
Inside this world in which we live there is anotherworld, a very wonderful world, that isours for the taking. Many things in the worldwe live in every day are denied to us. Maybe forthe reason that we cannot possibly learn how tomake use of them all, even though we think wewant them very much. Lots of us can never huntlions in Africa or sail the high seas, or find gold,or herd cows on the wild prairies, or know apirate, or run an engine, or become kings orqueens or presidents or the wives of presidents,or anything great and famous like that. We haveto let others do those things, and they again haveto let us do the things we do. We can each onlybe our kind of boy or girl, man or woman.
But in the world inside this we can be and doanything, not only now and here, but back in dimages when knights were bold and castles held prisonedprincesses. We can know intimately all sortsof people, savages and noblemen, cowboys andbank-clerks, fairies and fisher folk, poor little childrenand rich little children, great captains andwicked robbers, lovely ladies and strange oldwomen, poets and farmers. We can go on highadventure and find dreams come true. We can beviiihundreds of different persons, men and womenand boys and girls, beasts and fishes, clouds andmountains. Once inside that world, anything isliable to happen to us.
This inside world is the world of books. There,on your bookshelf, inside the quiet-looking blueand brown and red and green volumes, all sorts ofexciting things are going on, all sorts of peopleare busy over all sorts of affairs, talking andlaughing, crying and playing, having marvellousescapes, doing wonderful deeds. If we could juststep inside those books and join in the life goingon so