This Plague—and who can doubt it?

Dismays me so, I’ve sadly penned

Another book about it.”

CONTENTS

CHAPTERPAGE
BOOK I—THE CHALLENGE
I The Happiest Young Man in Manhattan[ 1]
II The Sheep and the Goats[ 10]
III Grilled Kidney and Bacon[ 20]
IV An Unintentional Philanderer[ 28]
V A Seasick Sentimentalist[ 40]
VI An Involuntary Fiancé[ 48]
VII A Battle of Ink[ 61]
VIII The Girl Who Looked Interesting[ 69]
IX The Chewing Gum of Destiny[ 78]
X The Young Man Who Makes Good[ 89]
BOOK II—THE STRUGGLE
I The Newly-weds[ 101]
II That Muddle-Headed Santa Claus[ 114]
III The City of Light[ 123]
IV The City of Laughter[ 133]
V The City of Love[ 145]
VI Getting Down to Cases[ 156]
VII The Merry Month of May[ 166]
VIII “Tom, Dick and Harry”[ 181]
IX An Unexpected Development[ 193]
X The Life and Death of Dorothy Madden[ 204]
BOOK III—THE AWAKENING
I The Stress of the Struggle[ 215]
II The Darkest Hour[ 231]
III The Dawn[ 241]
IV A Chapter That Begins Well and ends Badly [ 258]
V The Great Quietus[ 271]
VI The Shadow of Success[ 286]
VII The Fate of Fame[ 298]
VIII The Manufacture of a Villain[ 308]
IX A Cheque and a Check[ 317]
X Prince of Dreamers[ 333]

BOOK I—THE CHALLENGE

CHAPTER I
THE HAPPIEST YOUNG MAN IN MANHATTAN

To have omnibus tastes and an automobile income—how ironic?

With this reflexion I let myself collapse into a padded chair of transcendent comfort, lit a cigarette and inspected once more the amazing bank-book. Since I had seen it last several credit entries had been made—over twenty thousand dollars; and in the meantime, dawdling and dreaming in the woods of Maine, all I had managed to squander was a paltry thousand. Being a man of imagination I sought for a simile. As I sat there by the favourite window of my favourite club I could see great snowflakes falling in the quiet square, and at that moment it seemed to me that I too was standing under a snowfall, a snowfall of dollars steadily banking me about.

For a moment I revelled in the charming vision, then like a flash it changed. Now I could see two figures locked in Homeric combat. Like a serene over-soul I watched them, I, philosopher, life-critic; for was not one of them James H. Madden, a man of affairs, the other, J. Horace Madden, dilettante and dreamer.... Look! from that clutter of stale snow a form springs triumphant. Hurrah! It is the near-poet, the man on the side of the angels.— And so rejoiced was I at this issue that I regarded the little bank-book almost resentfully.