CHAPTER I.
"WHISTLE AND HOE--SING AS WE GO" There is one thing in this good old world that is positively sure--happiness is for _all_ who _strive_ to _be_ happy--and those who laugh _are_ happy.
Everybody is eligible--you--me--the other fellow.
Happiness is fundamentally a state of mind--not a state of body.
And mind controls.
Indeed it is possible to stand with one foot on the inevitable "banana peel" of life with both eyes peering into the Great Beyond, and still be happy, comfortable, and serene--if we will even so much as smile.
It's all a state of mind, I tell you--and I'm sure of what I say.

That's why I have taken up my fountain pen.

I want to talk to my friends--you hosts of people who have written to me for my recipe.

In moving pictures all I can do is act my part and grin for you.

What I say is a matter of your own inference, but with my pen I have a means of getting around the "silent drama" which prevents us from organizing a "close-up" with one another.
In starting I'm going to ask you "foolish question number 1."-- Do you ever laugh?
I mean do you ever laugh right out--spontaneously--just as if the police weren't listening with drawn clubs and a finger on the button connecting with the "hurry-up" wagon?
Well, if you don't, you should.