The main incident on which the following story turns, is founded on a fact which many readers of these pages will probably recognize as having formed a subject of conversation, a few years back, among persons interested in Literature and Art. I have endeavored, in writing my little book, to keep the spirit of its title-page motto in view, and tell my "honest tale" as "plainly" as I could -- or, in other words, as plainly as if I were only relating it to an audience of friends at my own fireside. -- W. W. C.