At that the men stared into each other's face, a very strange startled look coming into their eyes.

And no wonder! For long, long months, running to years, they had been cruising in those lonely desolate seas, thousands of miles from home, seeing no land nor any green thing, nor dear face of woman or child: and now by some strange chance a child had come to them, and even while they were making all haste to rescue it, putting their arms out to take it from the sea, its life had seemingly been snatched from them! But he was only sleeping.
[Illustration: ] NOTE _When I arranged with Mr.Hudson for the publication of an American Edition of_ A Little Boy Lost, _I asked him to write a special foreword to his American readers.

He replied with a characteristic letter, and, taking him at his word.

I am printing it on the following pages_.
ALFRED A.KNOPF.
_Dear Mr.Knopf_: Your request for a Foreword to insert in the American reprint of the little book worries me.

A critic on this side has said that my Prefaces to reprints of my earlier works are of the nature of parting kicks, and I have no desire just now to kick this poor innocent.
That evil-tempered old woman, Mother Nature, in one of her worst tantrums, has been inflicting so many cuffs and blows on me that she has left me no energy or disposition to kick anything--even myself.
The trouble is that I know so little about it.