The Project Gutenberg EBook of Aliens, by William McFee

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Title: Aliens

Author: William McFee

Release Date: February 9, 2010 [EBook #31241]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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ALIENS

BY
WILLIAM McFEE

AUTHOR OF "CASUALS OF THE SEA"

[Illustration: publishers symbol]

GARDEN CITY NEW YORK
DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY
1918

Copyright, 1918, by
Doubleday, Page & Company.

All rights reserved, including that of translation into foreign
languages, including the Scandinavian

TO MARGERY ALLINGHAM

PREFACE

[_Publisher's Note: It should be explained that an earlier version of
"Aliens" was published in London in 1914, and some copies were also
distributed in the United States. After the issue of "Casuals of the
Sea" the present publishers purchased the rights to "Aliens" and urged
Mr. McFee to re-write the story. His account of the history of this book
is here inserted, and will undoubtedly take its place among the most
entertaining and interesting prefaces in modern literature._]

So many people are unaware of the number of works of fiction which have
been rewritten after publication. I was rather surprised myself when I
came to recapitulate them. I wouldn't go so far as to say that second
editions, like second thoughts, are the best, because I at once think of
"The Light that Failed." But I do believe that under the very unusual
circumstances of the genesis and first issue of _Aliens_ I am justified
in offering a maturer and more balanced representation of what that book
stands for.

The notion of a character like Mr. Carville came to me while I was busy
finishing "Casuals of the Sea" during the late fall of 1912. A short
story was the result. It went to many likely and unlikely publishers,
for I knew very little of the field. I don't know whether the "Farm
Journal" (of which I am a devoted reader) got it, but it is quite
probable. A mad artist who lived near us, in an empty store along with
a studio stov