The Friendly Road | Page 3

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THE FRIENDLY ROAD New Adventures in Contentment
DAVID GRAYSON (pseud of Ray Stannard Baker) Author of
"Adventure in Contentment," "Adventures in Friendship"
Illustrated by Thomas Fogarty
"Surely it is good to be alive at a time like this."
THE FRIENDLY ROAD
Copyright, 1913, by DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY
A WORD TO HIM WHO OPENS THIS BOOK
I did not plan when I began writing these chapters to make an entire
book, but only to put down the more or less unusual impressions, the
events and adventures, of certain quiet pilgrimages in country roads.
But when I had written down all of these things, I found I had material
in plenty.
"What shall I call it now that I have written it?" I asked myself.
At first I thought I should call it "Adventures on the Road," or "The
Country Road," or something equally simple, for I would not have the
title arouse any appetite which the book itself could not satisfy. One
pleasant evening I was sitting on my porch with my dog sleeping near
me, and Harriet not far away rocking and sewing, and as I looked out
across the quiet fields I could see in the distance a curving bit of the
town road. I could see the valley below it and the green hill beyond,
and my mind went out swiftly along the country road which I had so
recently travelled on foot, and I thought with deep satisfaction of all the
people I had met on my pilgrimages--the Country Minister with his
problems, the buoyant Stanleys, Bill Hahn the Socialist, the Vedders in
their garden, the Brush Peddler. I thought of the Wonderful City, and of
how for a time I had been caught up into its life. I thought of the men I
met at the livery stable, especially Healy, the wit, and of that strange
Girl of the Street. And it was good to think of them all living around
me, not so very far away, connected with me through darkness and
space by a certain mysterious human cord. Most of all I love that which
I cannot see beyond the hill.
"Harriet," I said aloud, "it grows more wonderful every year how full
the world is of friendly people!"

So I got up quickly and came in here to my room, and taking a fresh
sheet of paper I wrote down the title of my new book:
"The Friendly Road."
I invite you to travel with me upon this friendly road. You may find, as
I did, something which will cause you for a time, to forget yourself into
contentment. But if you chance to be a truly serious person, put down
my book. Let nothing stay your hurried steps,