THE
THREE BRIDES,
LOVE IN A COTTAGE,

AND
OTHER TALES

BY

FRANCIS A. DURIVAGE.

BOSTON:
SANBORN, CARTER, BAZIN & CO.,

25 & 29 CORNHILL.

Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1853, by

F.A. DURIVAGE,

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts.

TO

MY MOTHER,

THE FIRST TO ENCOURAGE MY EFFORTS,

AND THE MOST INDULGENT OF MY CRITICS,

THIS VOLUME

IS AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED.

[7]

PREFACE.

The volume here submitted to the public is composed of selections frommy contributions to the columns of the American press. The stories andsketches were written, most of them, in the intervals of relaxationfrom more serious labor and the daily business of life; and they wouldbe suffered to disappear in the Lethe that awaits old magazines andnewspapers, had not their extensive circulation, and the partialjudgment of friends,—for I must not omit the stereotyped plea ofscribblers,—flattered me that their collection in a permanent formwould not prove wholly unacceptable. Some of these articles werepublished anonymously, or under the signature of "The Old 'Un," andhave enjoyed the honor of adoption by persons having no claim to theirpaternity; and it seems time to call home and assemble these vagabondchildren under the paternal wing. [8]

The materials for the tales were gathered from various sources: someare purely imaginative, some authentic, not a few jotted down fromoral narrative, or derived from the vague remembrance of some old playor adventure; but the form at least is my own, and that is about allthat a professional story-teller, gleaning his matter at random, cangenerally lay claim to.

Some of these sketches were originally published in the Boston "OliveBranch," and many in Mr. Gleason's popular papers, the "Flag of OurUnion," and the "Pictorial Drawing-Room Companion." Others haveappeared in the "New York Mirror," the "American Monthly Magazine,"the New York "Spirit of the Times," the "Symbol," and other magazinesand papers.

Should their perusal serve to beguile some hours of weariness andillness, as their composition has done, I shall feel that my labor hasnot been altogether vain; while the moderate success of this venturewill stimulate me to attempt something more worthy the attention ofthe public.

FRANCIS A. DURIVAGE.

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