Produced by Emmy, Darleen Dove and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive) THE LOVES OF AMBROSE [Illustration: "The young man put the honeysuckle in his buttonhole"] THE LOVES OF AMBROSE BY MARGARET VANDERCOOK [Illustration] _Illustrated by Gordon Grant_ DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY GARDEN CITY NEW YORK 1914 _Copyright, 1914, by_ DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY _All rights reserved, including that of translation into foreign languages, including the Scandinavian_ "_And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the seashore._" To JOHN VANDERCOOK CONTENTS PART I HIS FIRST WIFE CHAPTER PAGE I. The Departure 3 II. The Voice of the Turtle 22 III. "Peachy" 34 IV. "Even so, Love, even so! Whither thou goest, I will go." 52 V. The Return 70 PART II HIS SECOND WIFE VI. Reconstruction 77 VII. "Em'ly Dunham" 92 VIII. The Female Delegation 100 IX. "The tides of love and laughter run Increasing aye from sun to sun" 107 X. The Revelation 116 XI. Following His Advice 126 XII. A Light in Darkness 136 XIII. The Surprise Party 144 PART III HIS THIRD WIFE XIV. Thirty Years 153 XV. Original Sin 164 XVI. The Eternal Fire 171 XVII. The Revival Service 179 XVIII. Indian Summer 188 PART IV HIS FOURTH WIFE XIX. "'Lizabeth" 203 XX. "Giving in Marriage" 211 XXI. "I Shall Want My Em'ly" 224 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS "The young man put the honeysuckle in his buttonhole" _Frontispiece_ PAGE "Leaping ditches, tearing across ploughed fields, to the woods ahead" 5 "Miner rode slowly along on horseback, now and then making inquiries of wayfarers" 25 "The Village" 45 "He stopped when the mouth of an old war pistol was suddenly placed in front of his shoulder" 112