Page:The Golden Road.pdf/13

 FOREWORD

Once upon a time we all walked on the golden road.

It was a fair highway, through the Land of

Lost Delight; shadow and sunshine were blessedly mingled, and every turn and dip revealed a fresh charm and a new loveliness to eager hearts and unspoiled eyes. On that road we heard the song of morning stars; we drank in fragrances aerial and sweet as a May nust; we were rich in gossamer fancies and iris hopes; our hearts sought and found the boon of dreams;

the years waited beyond and they

were very fair;

life was a rose-lipped comrade

with purple flowers dripping from her fingers. We may long have left the golden road behind,, but its memories are the dearest of our eternal possessions; and those who cherish them as such may haply find a pleasure in the pages of this book, whose people are pilgrims on the golden road of youth.