Excerpt from Hide and Seek: Or the Mystery of Mary Grice This novel ranks the third, in order of succession, of the works of fiction which I have produced. The history of its reception, on its first appearance, is soon told. Unfortunately for me, 'Hide and Seek' was originally published in the year eighteen hundred and fifty-four, at the outbreak of the Crimean War. All England felt the absorbing interest of watching that serious national event; and new books - some of them books of far higher pretensions than mine - found the minds of readers in general preoccupied or indifferent. My own little venture in fiction necessarily felt the adverse influence of the time. The demand among the book-sellers was just large enough to exhaust the first edition, and there the sale of this novel, in its original form, terminated. For some years the book was, in the technical phrase, 'out of print.' Proposals have reached me, at various times, for its republication; but I have resolutely abstained from availing myself of them for two reasons. In the first place, I was anxious to wait until 'Hide and Seek' could make its re-appearance on a footing of perfect equality with my other works. In the second place, I was resolved to keep it back until it might obtain the advantage of a careful revisal, guided by the light of the author's later experience. The period for the accomplishment of both these objects has now presented itself. 'Hide and Seek' forms one among the uniform series of my novels, which has begun with 'Antonina, ' 'The Dead Secret, ' and 'The Woman in White;' and which will be continued with 'Basil' and 'The Queen of Hearts.' About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.