[handwritten] Charles wrote these ^stories with^ love and the hope of bringing to its reader a warm glow of pardnership[sic] with the men who knew the old West & loved it & you know & when you have read and laughed with them you will know & how joy and sorrow mingled has branded the hearts of its people [illegible partially erased text] [Transcribed by Lauren B. Gerfen, 2012-12-11]