no instructions except those of my own
conscience, impulse, and conviction. Even then I saw fields of work
which would occupy my mind, and such skill as I had, for many a year to
come. I saw the Channel Islands, Egypt, South Africa, and India. In all
these fields save India, I have given my Pegasus its bridle-rein, and,
so far, I have no reason to feel that my convictions were false. I
write of Canada still, but I have written of the Channel Islands, I have
written of Egypt, I have written of England and South Africa, and my
public--that is, those who read my books--have accepted me in all these
fields without demur. I believe I have justified myself in not accepting
imprisonment in the field where I first essayed to turn my observation
of life to account.

I went to Jersey, therefore, with my teeth set, in a way; yet happily
and confidently. I had been dealing with French Canada for some years,
and a step from Quebec, which was French, to Jersey, which was Norman
French, was but short. It was a question of atmosphere solely. Whatever
may be thought of The 'Battle of the Strong' I have not yet met a
Jerseyman who denies to it the atmosphere of the place. It could hardly
have lacked it, for there were twenty people, deeply intelligent,
immensely interested in my design, and they were of Jersey families
which had been there for centuries. They helped me, they fed me with
dialect, with local details, with memories, with old letters, with
diaries of their forebears, until, if I had gone wrong, it would have
been through lack of skill in handling my material. I do not think
I went wrong, though I believe that I could construct the book more
effectively if I had to do it again. Yet there is something in looseness
of construction which gives an air of naturalness; and it may be that
this very looseness which I notice in 'The Battle of the Strong' has had
something to do with giving it such a great circle of readers; though
this may appear paradoxical. When it first appeared, it did not make the
appeal which 'The Right of Way' or 'The Seats of the Mighty' made, but
it justified itself, it forced its way, it assured me that I had done
right in shaking myself free from the control of my own best work.
The book has gone on increasing its readers year by year, and when
it appeared in Nelson's delightful cheap edition in England it had an
immediate success, and has sold by the hundred thousand in the last four
years.

One of the