E-text prepared by Roger Frank and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team (https://www.pgdp.net) Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this file which includes the original illustrations. See 28517-h.htm or 28517-h.zip: (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/8/5/1/28517/28517-h/28517-h.htm) or (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/8/5/1/28517/28517-h.zip) HEPSEY BURKE by FRANK N. WESTCOTT Illustrated by Frederick R. Gruger [Illustration: "YOU HAVEN'T SEEN ANYTHING THAT LOOKED LIKE A PARSON, HAVE YOU? YOU CAN GENERALLY SPOT 'EM EVERY TIME"] [Illustration] New York The H. K. Fly Company Publishers Copyright, 1915, by The H. K. Fly Company. Copyright, 1915, by The Red Book Corporation. Copyright, 1914, by The Red Book Corporation. CONTENTS. CHAPTER PAGE I Hepsey Burke 11 II Gossip 25 III The Senior Warden 36 IV Milking 52 V The Miniature 59 VI The Missionary Tea 71 VII Hepsey Goes A-Fishing 85 VIII An Icebox for Cherubim 96 IX The Rectory 111 X The Bride's Arrival 122 XI Virginia's High Horse 130 XII House Cleaning and Bachelorhood 137 XIII The Circus 147 XIV On the Side Porch 160 XV Nickey's Social Ambitions 170 XVI Practical Temperance Reform 186 XVII Notice to Quit 200 XVIII The New Rectory 212 XIX Couleur de Rose 224 XX Muscular Christianity 238 XXI Uninvited Guests 253 XXII Hepsey's Diplomacy 271 XXIII Hepsey Calls a Meeting 283 XXIV Omnium Gatherum 308 ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE "You haven't seen anything that looked like a parson, have you? You can generally spot 'em every time" Frontispiece