Catriona (A Sequel to "Kidnapped") by Robert Louis Stevenson
DEDICATION.
TO CHARLES BAXTER, WRITER TO THE SIGNET.
MY DEAR CHARLES,
It is the fate of sequels to disappoint those who have waited for them;
and my David, having been left to kick his heels for more than a lustre
in the British Linen Company's office, must expect his late re-
appearance to be greeted with hoots, if not with missiles. Yet, when I
remember the days of our explorations, I am not without hope. There
should be left in our native city some seed of the elect; some long-
legged, hot-headed youth must repeat to-day our dreams and wanderings
of so many years ago; he will relish the pleasure, which should have
been ours, to follow among named streets and numbered houses the
country walks of David Balfour, to identify Dean, and Silvermills, and
Broughton, and Hope Park, and Pilrig, and poor old Lochend - if it
still be standing, and the Figgate Whins - if there be any of them
left; or to push (on a long holiday) so far afield as Gillane or the
Bass. So, perhaps, his eye shall be opened to behold the series of the
generations, and he shall weigh with surprise his momentous and
nugatory gift of life.
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