PREFACE.
There are few writers who have so happily hit upon the true vein of public
taste as J. H. Ingraham. He is a man whose personal history would be read with
no little interest by the million, and the vicissitudes of life through which he has
passed, have given him a never failing resource for incident. His novelletts and
stories are read wherever Yankee sails whiten distant seas; and sailors have come
to look upon him as a beacon friend to the inhabitants of the forecastle, whose long
and tedious night watches his tales have served to lighten. The collection of tales
we have gathered here, commencing with “The Spectre Steamer,” are characteristic
of the author's style, and will be read with avidity by the public. Another
series will be published shortly, when we hope to be able to offer a still more
interesting collection.
