The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Black Arrow, by Robert Louis Stevenson

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Title: The Black Arrow
A Tale of the Two Roses

Author: Robert Louis Stevenson

Illustrator: N. C. Wyeth

Release Date: June 23, 2010 [EBook #32954]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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THE BLACK ARROW

A TALE OF THE TWO ROSES

ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON

ILLUSTRATED BY N. C. WYETH

[Illustration]

NEW YORK

CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS

MCMXXXIII

COPYRIGHT, 1916, BY

CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS

Printed in the United States of America

_All rights reserved._

_No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without
the permission of Charles Scribner's Sons._

CRITIC ON THE HEARTH:

No one but myself knows what I have suffered, nor what my books have
gained, by your unsleeping watchfulness and admirable pertinacity. And
now here is a volume that goes into the world and lacks your
_imprimatur_: a strange thing in our joint lives; and the reason of it
stranger still! I have watched with interest, with pain, and at length
with amusement, your unavailing attempts to peruse _The Black Arrow_;
and I think I should lack humour indeed, if I let the occasion slip and
did not place your name in the fly-leaf of the only book of mine that
you have never read--and never will read.

That others may display more constancy is still my hope. The tale was
written years ago for a particular audience and (I may say) in rivalry
with a particular author; I think I should do well to name him, Mr.
Alfred R. Phillips. It was not without its reward at the time. I could
not, indeed, displace Mr. Phillips from his well-won priority; but in
the eyes of readers who thought less than nothing of _Treasure Island_,
_The Black Arrow_ was supposed to mark a clear advance. Those who read
volumes and those who read story papers belong to different worlds. The
verdict on _Treasure Island_ was reversed in the other court; I wonder,
will it be the same with its successor?