FAR-AWAY STORIES BY WILLIAM J. LOCKE AUTHOR OF "THE ROUGH ROAD," "THE RED PLANET," "THE WONDERFUL YEAR," "THE BELOVED VAGABOND," ETC. NEW YORK: JOHN LANE COMPANY LONDON: JOHN LANE, THE BODLEY HEAD TORONTO: S. B. GUNDY MCMXIX COPYRIGHT, 1919, BY JOHN LANE COMPANY THE PLIMPTON PRESS NORWOOD, MASS. U.S.A. _TO THE READER_ _DEAR SIR OR MADAM:--_ _Good wine needs no bush, but a collection of mixed vintages does. And this book is just such a collection. Some of the stories I do not want to remain buried for ever in the museum files of dead magazine-numbers--an author's not unpardonable vanity; others I have resuscitated from the same vaults in the hope that they still may please you._ _The title of a volume of short stories is always a difficult matter. It ought to indicate frankly the nature of the book so that the unwary purchaser shall have no grievance (except on the score of merit, which is a different affair altogether) against either author or publisher. In my title I have tried to solve the problem. But why "Far-away?" Well, the stories cover a long stretch of years, and all, save one, were written in calm days far-away from the present convulsion of the world._ _Anyhow, no one will buy the book under the impression that it is a novel, and, finding that it isn't, revile me as a cheat. And so I have the pleasure of offering it for your perusal with a clear conscience._ _You, Dear Sir or Madam, have given me, this many a year, an indulgence beyond my deserts. Till now, I have had no opportunity of thanking you. I do now with a grateful heart, and to you I dedicate the two stories that I love the best, hoping that they may excuse those for which you may not so much care, and that they may win continuance of that which is to me, both as a writer and as a human being, my most cherished possession, namely, your favourable regard for_ _Your most humble and obedient Servant to command,_ _W. J. LOCKE_ _June_, 1919 CONTENTS THE SONG OF LIFE LADIES IN LAVENDER STUDIES IN BLINDNESS I. AN OLD-WORLD EPISODE II. THE CONQUEROR III. A LOVER'S DILEMMA IV. A WOMAN OF THE WAR THE PRINCESS'S KINGDOM THE HEART AT TWENTY THE SCOURGE MY SHADOW FRIENDS THE SONG OF LIFE