Copyright, 1901,
By UNITED STATES BOOK CO.
Copyright 1902.
By STREET & SMITH

CONTENTS

CHAPTER.
[I.]PINCHLER'S DOCKYARD.
[II.]WANTED, A CHAPERON.
[III.]THE WOMAN WITH THE FIERCE EYES.
[IV.]WHAT MRS. BELSWIN HAD TO SAY.
[V.]THE PRODIGAL SON.
[VI.]THE DRAGON.
[VII.]THE GARDEN OF HESPERIDES.
[VIII.]MRS. BELSWIN'S CORRESPONDENCE.
[IX.]A RUSTIC APOLLO.
[X.]A BOUDOIR CONSULTATION.
[XI.]THE ART OF DINING.
[XII.]ARS AMORIS.
[XIII.]EXIT MRS. BELSWIN.
[XIV.]SIGNOR FERRARI DECLINES.
[XV.]THE RETURN OF THE WANDERER.
[XVI.]FOREWARNED IS FOREARMED.
[XVII.]BEFORE THE STORM.
[XVIII.]FACE TO FACE.
[XIX.]THE OUTER DARKNESS.
[XX.]A MYSTERIOUS AFFAIR.
[XXI.]ARCHIE MAKES HIS PLANS.
[XXII.]MRS. BELSWIN CONSIDERS WAYS AND MEANS.
[XXIII.]BETTER LEAVE WELL ALONE.
[XXIV.]A MEMORY OF THE PAST.
[XXV.]SILAS PLAYS HIS LITTLE GAME.
[XXVI.]VAE VICTIS.
[XXVII.]THE CASE.
[XXVIII.]WHAT MRS. BELK FOUND.
[XXIX.]DANGER.
[XXX.]CLEVER DEFENCE.
[XXXI.]A TRAGIC SITUATION.
[XXXII.]NEWS FROM AUSTRALIA.
[XXXIII.]MR. DOMBRAIN SHOWS HIS TEETH.
[XXXIV.]IN OPEN COURT.
[XXXV.]EXPIATION.
[XXXVI.]A MEMORY OF THE PAST.

THE FEVER OF LIFE

[CHAPTER I.]

PINCHLER'S DOCKYARD.

"Fashion for the nonce surrenders
Giddy Mayfair's faded splendours,
And with all her sons and daughters
Hastens to health-giving waters;
Rests when curfew bells are ringing,
Rises when the lark is singing,
Plays lawn tennis, flirts and idles,
Laying snares for future bridals;
Thus forgetting pleasures evil,
In return to life primeval."

It was Toby Clendon who named it "Pinchler's Dockyard "--Toby Clendon, young, handsome, and a trifle scampish, who wrote witty essays for The Satirist, slashing criticisms for The Bookworm, and dainty society verses for any journal which chose to pay for such poetical effusions. A very cruel remark to make about Mrs. Pinchler's respectable private hotel at Marsh-on-the-Sea; but then the truth is always cruel, and Mr. Clendon proved the truth of his statement in this wise--