The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Triflers, by Frederick Orin Bartlett

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Title: The Triflers

Author: Frederick Orin Bartlett

Release Date: January 27, 2007 [EBook #20458]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TRIFLERS ***

Produced by Al Haines

[Frontispiece: A new tenderness swept over her]

THE TRIFLERS

BY

FREDERICK ORIN BARTLETT

_With Illustrations by_

_George Ellis Wolfe_

TORONTO

THOMAS ALLEN

BOSTON AND NEW YORK

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY

1917

COPYRIGHT, 1916, BY EVERY WEEK CORPORATION

COPYRIGHT, 1917, BY FREDERICK ORIN BARTLETT

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

_Published March 1917_

TO

ANN AND KENT

CONTENTS

I. THE TROUBLE WITH MONTE
II. THE TROUBLE WITH MARJORY
III. A SUMMONS
IV. A PROPOSAL
V. PISTOLS
VI. GENDARMES AND ETHER
VII. THE ADVANTAGES OF BEING SHOT
VIII. DRAWBACKS OF RECOVERY
IX. BLUE AND GOLD
X. THE AFFAIR AT MAXIM'S
XI. A CANCELED RESERVATION
XII. A WEDDING JOURNEY
XIII. A WEDDING JOURNEY (_continued_)
XIV. THE BRIDE RUNS AWAY
XV. IN THE DARK
XVI. A WALK ON THE QUAY
XVII. JUST MONTE
XVIII. PETER
XIX. AN EXPLANATION
XX. PAYING LIKE A MAN
XXI. BACK TO SCHEDULE
XXII. A CONFESSION
XXIII. LETTERS
XXIV. THE BLIND SEE
XXV. SO LONG
XXVI. FREEDOM
XXVII. WAR
XXVIII. THE CORNICE ROAD
XXIX. BENEATH THE STARS

ILLUSTRATIONS

LOI
A NEW TENDERNESS SWEPT OVER HER . . . _Frontispiece_

"WE'RE TO BE MARRIED TO-MORROW?"

MONSIEUR'S EYES WARMED AS HE SLIPPED THE WRAP OVER MADAME'S SHOULDERS

"BECAUSE HE LOVES YOU," BREATHED BEATRICE

"DID N'T BEATRICE TELL ME YOU REGISTERED HERE WITH YOUR WIFE?"

"PETER!" SHE CRIED, FALLING BACK A STEP

"BUT, O GOD, IF HE WOULD COME!"

_From drawings by George E. Wolfe_

THE TRIFLERS

CHAPTER I

THE TROUBLE WITH MONTE

For a man to keep himself consistently amused for ten years after his
graduation from college, even with an inheritance to furnish ample
financial assistance, suggest