EXPLANATORY
In this book a number of dialects are used, to wit: the Missouri negrodialect; the extremest form of the backwoods Southwestern dialect; theordinary "Pike County" dialect; and four modified varieties of thislast. The shadings have not been done in a haphazard fashion, or byguesswork; but painstakingly, and with the trustworthy guidance andsupport of personal familiarity with these several forms of speech.
I make this explanation for the reason that without it many readerswould suppose that all these characters were trying to talk alike andnot succeeding.
The Author.