Produced by ellinora, Barry Abrahamsen, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) Last Edit of Project Info THE BRIARY-BUSH A Novel By Floyd Dell [Illustration: Publisher’s Logo] New York Alfred · A · Knopf 1921 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ COPYRIGHT, 1921, BY ALFRED A. KNOPF, INC. PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ------------------------------------------------------------------------ TO S. A. TANNENBAUM, M.D., EXPLORER OF THE DARK CONTINENT OF THE MIND ------------------------------------------------------------------------ “_Oh, the briary-bush That pricks my heart so sore! If I ever get out of the briary-bush I’ll never get in any more!_” —Old Song ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CONTENTS BOOK ONE: COMMUNITY HOUSE CHAPTER I FELIX DECIDES TO CHANGE HIS CHARACTER 3 II “BON VOYAGE!” 9 III PLANS 22 IV SURPRISES 28 V THE STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE 37 VI A GUIDE TO CHICAGO 47 VII WORK AND PLAY 52 VIII ROSE-ANN GOES AWAY 62 BOOK TWO: CANAL STREET IX HOW TO SPEND ONE’S EVENINGS 69 X THE DETACHED ATTITUDE 75 XI AN ADVENTURE IN PHILOSOPHY 83 XII BACHELOR’S HALL 89 XIII IN HOSPITAL 99 BOOK THREE: WOODS POINT XIV HEART AND HAND 105 XV PRE-NUPTIAL 108 XVI CLIVE’S ASSISTANCE 114 XVII CHARIVARI 121 XVIII THE AUTHORITY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS 131 XIX TOGETHER 134 XX “THE NEST-BUILDING INSTINCT” 143 BOOK FOUR: FIFTY-SEVENTH STREET XXI ADVANCEMENT 155 XXII MAINLY ABOUT CLOTHES 162 XXIII A BARGAIN IN UTOPIAS 170 XXIV STUDIO 176 XXV ST. GEORGE OF THE MINUTE 180 XXVI WHAT ROSE-ANN WANTED 187 XXVII PARTIES 197 XXVIII A FATHER-IN-LAW 201