OLIVE HIGGINS PROUTY

AUTHOR OF

"BOBBIE, GENERAL MANAGER"

WITH FOUR ILLUSTRATIONS BY

JAMES MONTGOMERY FLAGG

NEW YORK

FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY

PUBLISHERS

Copyright, 1916, by
Frederick A. Stokes Company
Copyright, 1915, 1916, by
The Phillips Publishing Company
All rights reserved, including that of translation
into foreign languages.

DEDICATED
TO

MY MOTHER


CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE
I.Ruth Vars Comes Out[1]
II.Breckenridge Sewall[10]
III.Episode of a Small Dog[18]
IV.A Back-Season Débutante[27]
V.The Unimportant Fifth Wheel[36]
VI.Breck Sewall Again[44]
VII.The Millions Win[50]
VIII.The Horse-Show[56]
IX.Catastrophe[69]
X.A University Town[80]
XI.A Walk in the Rain[90]
XII.A Dinner Party[101]
XIII.Lucy Takes Up the Narrative[112]
XIV.Bob Turns Out a Conservative[124]
XV.Another Catastrophe[135]
XVI.A Family Conference[142]
XVII.Ruth Goes to New York[156]
XVIII.A Year Later[166]
XIX.Ruth Resumes Her Own Story[177]
XX.The Fifth Wheel Gains Wings[187]
XXI.In the Sewall Mansion[198]
XXII.The Parade[206]
XXIII.An Encounter with Breck[212]
XXIV.The Open Door[222]
XXV.Mountain Climbing[232]
XXVI.The Pot of Gold[239]
XXVII.Van de Vere's[248]
XXVIII.A Call from Bob Jennings[258]
XXIX.Longings[266]
XXX.Again Lucy Narrates[274]
XXXI.Ruth Draws Conclusions[282]
XXXII.Bob Draws Conclusions Too[291]

ILLUSTRATIONS

"'Why, Breck, don't be absurd! I wouldn't marry you for anything in the world'"[Frontispiece]
FACING
PAGE
"'Men seem to want to make just nice soft pussy-cats out of us, with ribbons round our necks, and hear us purr'"[128]
"Straight ahead she gazed; straight ahead she rode; unafraid, eager, hopeful; the flag her only staff"[170]
"I was the only one in her whole establishment whom she wasn't obliged to treat as a servant and menial"[202]