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THE ADVENTURES OF AKBAR
Uniform with this Volume
Price 6/-net each
THE SECRET GARDEN, by Frances Hodgson Burnett, author of "The Shuttle," etc., illustrated by Charles Robinson.
THE FOUR GARDENS, by "Handasyde," illustrated by Charles Robinson.
ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND, by Lewis Carroll, illustrated by Arthur Rackham.
ÆSOP'S FABLES, translated by V. S. Vernon Jones, with an introduction by G. K. Chesterton, illustrated by Arthur Rackham.
London: WILLIAM HEINEMANN
21, BEDFORD STREET, W.C.
On a shelving bank of dry sand Baby Akbar sitting up and rubbing his eyes.
THE ADVENTURES OF AKBAR
by
FLORA ANNIE STEEL
ILLUSTRATED BY BYAM SHAW
LONDON · WILLIAM HEINEMANN · 1913
All rights reserved
A DEDICATION
My thoughts would be so full of you, my sweet,
That dreaming half—I seemed to hear once more
Your little fingers fluttering at the door,
The pitter patter of your childish feet
In joyous rhythm cross the echoing floor.
And warm soft arms around my neck would twine,
As soft and warm the dream child on my knees,
Cuddling so close in clear young voice would tease
And tease and tease in mimicked glad young whine
For "Just one little story if you please."
Mostly I think to dream my dreaming true,
I'd conjure up long tales of lands afar
And days gone by that yet remembered are;
Shaping my stories with this end in view
To gain the verdict "Tell some more, Mamma."
Into my life the spirit of a child.
Thus one by one the weary hours flew
And page by page a little volume grew,
So—that my dreams with truth be reconciled,
Take it, my darling, it was writ for you.
April, 1875
None read the pages. Therefore at the end
Of this world's life I dedicate to two
Small boys—her sons—whose question'ng eyes of blue
Tell me that dreams of childhood never end
This book. So take it boys—'twas writ for you.
1911
PREFACE
This book is written for all little lads and lasses, but especially for the former, since it is the true—quite true—story of a little lad who lived to be, perhaps, the greatest king this world has ever seen.
It is a strange, wild tale this of the adventures of Prince Akbar among the snowy mountains between Kandahâr and Kâbul, and though the names may be a bit of a puzzle at first, as they will have to be learned by and bye in geography and history lessons, it might be as well to get familiar with them in a story-book; though, indeed, as everybody in it except Roy the Râjput, Meroo the cook boy; Tumbu, the dog; and Down, the cat (and these four may have been true, you know, though they have not been remembered) really lived, I don't know whether this book oughtn't to be considered real history, and therefore
A LESSON BOOK
Anyhow, I hope you won't find it dull.