FOREWORD

The hero of this story is not to be taken as a prototype of the average deaf youth. “ Mickey ” Dunmore is a creation of my own, through whom I have endeavored to bring out the problems of deafness and the struggles of the deaf. I have tried to make an interesting story, to hold the reader’s interest as the world of silent people unfolds before him. A great deal of the story has background in fact, but the opening chapter and that one about the Lady in the Jar are fictional. Mickey and his chum, Dick Wagner, found themselves stranded in a sleepy Midwest town, with no job in sight. I had to resort to invention to get them out of their predicament.

The story was begun in 1917, laid aside a year, and then taken up with a different plan. The work went on slowly, over four years. Since then I have made several revisions. Recently I read a speech by a member of the English Parliament calling attention to the evils that would result by artificial insemination, which would, or might, lead to consanguineous marriages, seriously affecting offspring. Something in this way is brought out in my story.

H. L. T.
September 1949