Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed Proofreading Canada Team at http://www.pgdpcanada.net [Illustration: THE SUPPER [Page 37]] THE ASSOCIATE HERMITS By Frank R. Stockton Author of "The Great Stone of Sardis" With Illustrations by A. B. Frost [Illustration] NEW YORK AND LONDON HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS 1900 BY THE SAME AUTHOR. THE GREAT STONE OF SARDIS. A Novel. Illustrated by Peter Newell. Post 8vo, Cloth, Ornamental, $1 50. "The Great Stone of Sardis" is as queer and preposterous as can be imagined, yet as plausible and real-seeming as a legal document.... There is a treat in the book.--_Independent_, N. Y. A new and worthy example of Stockton's kindly, wholesome, original, and inexhaustible humor.--_Syracuse Post._ Narrated with a seriousness that gives the adventures a semblance of matters of fact. Through the narrative runs a love interest which Mr. Stockton manages with great skill.--_Washington Post._ NEW YORK AND LONDON: HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS. Copyright, 1898, by Harper & Brothers. All rights reserved. CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. The Dawn of a Wedding-journey 1 II. Enter Margery 7 III. Sadler's 15 IV. A Cataract of Information 23 V. Camp Rob 35 VI. Camp Roy 42 VII. A Stranger 52 VIII. The Bishop's Tale 63 IX. Matlack's Three Troubles 74 X. A Ladies' Day in Camp 82 XI. Margery Takes the Oars 90 XII. The Bishop Engages the Attention of the Guides 100 XIII. The World Goes Wrong with Mr. Raybold 105 XIV. The Assertion of Individuality 113 XV. A Net of Cobwebs to Cage a Lion 123 XVI. A Man who Feels Himself a Man 135 XVII. Mrs. Perkenpine Asserts Her Individuality 143 XVIII. The Hermits Associate 153 XIX. Margery's Breakfast 161 XX. Martin Asserts His Individuality 173 XXI. The Individuality of Peter Sadler 185 XXII. A Tranquillizing Breeze and a Hot Wind 194 XXIII. Mrs. Perkenpine Finds out Things about Herself 205 XXIV. A Dissolving Audience 212 XXV. A Moonlight Interview 220 XXVI. An Elopement 229 XXVII. Mrs. Perkenpine Delights the Bishop 239 XXVIII. The Hermits Continue to Favor Association 248 ILLUSTRATIONS