Transcriber's note: Italic text has been marked with _underscores_. Please see the end of this book for further notes. FRIENDSHIP AND FOLLY [Illustration: "THERE WAS A LITTLE BLACK SHAPE SITTING ON SOME LUGGAGE."] [Illustration: Title page] FRIENDSHIP AND FOLLY A Novel BY MARIA LOUISE POOL AUTHOR OF "IN A DIKE SHANTY," "BOSS," ETC. [Illustration] BOSTON L. C. PAGE AND COMPANY (INCORPORATED) 1898 _Copyright, 1898_ BY THE J. B. LIPPINCOTT CO. _Copyright, 1898_ BY L. C. PAGE AND COMPANY (INCORPORATED) Colonial Press Electrotyped and Printed by C. H. Simonds & Co. Boston, U.S.A. CONTENTS. CHAPTER PAGE I. AT SAVIN HILL 15 II. A SLIGHT ACCIDENT 43 III. "I WANT TO ASK YOU A QUESTION" 59 IV. "I REALLY OUGHT TO HAVE BEEN AN ACTRESS" 84 V. BEING A CHAPERON 101 VI. THE EVENING BEFORE 114 VII. "A BLESSED CHANCE" 128 VIII. ON BOARD THE SCYTHIA 140 IX. "COLD PORRIDGE HOT AGAIN" 150 X. THE PASSENGER LIST 169 XI. A KNOCK-DOWN BLOW 178 XII. "DON'T BE CRUEL TO ME" 186 XIII. AN INVOLUNTARY BATH 205 XIV. A BULL TERRIER 216 XV. "TOO MUCH FOR ANY WOMAN TO FORGIVE" 230 XVI. TÊTE-À-TÊTE 251 XVII. "ARE YOU GOING TO MARRY LORD MAXWELL?" 261 XVIII. LEANDER AS A MEANS 274 XIX. "I SHALL COME BACK" 289 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE "THERE WAS A LITTLE BLACK SHAPE SITTING ON SOME LUGGAGE." _Frontispiece_ "'I BORE YOU SO,' SHE SAID." 119 "'LET ME SEE IT,' SAID CAROLYN." 174 "LAWRENCE SPRANG TO HIS FEET." 235 FRIENDSHIP AND FOLLY. CHAPTER I. AT SAVIN HILL. There was one large wicker chair on the piazza, and in the chair sat a girl. It was a spacious piazza, the roof of which was supported by gnarled tree-trunks, the bark and the knots carefully preserved so as to look "rustic." The deep eaves drooped in a rustic manner also, and there were trumpet-vines and wistaria, and various other creeping things of the vegetable world, wandering about in a careful carelessness, like the hair of a woman when it is dressed most effectively. The lawn swept down rather steeply and stopped suddenly against a thick stone wall that was covered with ivy.