Produced by Al Haines. CHILDREN OF THE DEAR COTSWOLDS BY L. ALLEN HARKER AUTHOR OF "MISS ESPERANCE AND MR. WYCHERLY," ETC. LONDON JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET, W. 1918 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED _Copyright in the United States of America by L. Allen Harker._ OTHER WORKS BY L. ALLEN HARKER JAN AND HER JOB THE FFOLLIOTS OF REDMARLEY A ROMANCE OF THE NURSERY MASTER AND MAID MISS ESPERANCE AND MR. WYCHERLY MR. WYCHERLY’S WARDS JOHN MURRAY, LONDON TO THE COUNTESS BATHURST Dear to you, too, the small "uplandish" town, The steep stone roofs, the graceful gabled street, The great beech woods, the rolling purple down, The golden fields that shimmer in the heat With molten glow of buttercups ablaze— Dear to you, too. Dear to you, too, the folk, slow-spoken, kind, Wise with a mother-wisdom not of books; The sturdy "Cotsal-bred" of cautious mind, That judges men by "doin’s, not by looks," With sapient nods and trenchant homely phrase— Dear to you, too. And since you love them well—people and land— I bring you stories of them—just a few Old folk and young—in hope you’ll let them stand With others that I wot of dear to you. How happy should these prove in future days— Dear to you, too. *FOREWORD* "I’m homesick for my hills again— My hills again! To see above the Severn plain, Unscabbarded against the sky, The blue high blade of Cotswold lie." F. W. HARVEY.