Produced by Suzanne Shell, Martin Pettit and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net THE MAIN CHANCE [Illustration] THE MAIN CHANCE BY MEREDITH NICHOLSON ILLUSTRATED BY HARRISON FISHER INDIANAPOLIS THE BOBBS-MERRILL COMPANY PUBLISHERS COPYRIGHT 1903 THE BOBBS-MERRILL COMPANY MAY PRESS OF BRAUNWORTH & CO. BOOKBINDERS AND PRINTERS BROOKLYN, N. Y. TO E. K. N. WHO WILL REMEMBER AND UNDERSTAND CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I A NEW MAN IN TOWN 1 II WARRICK RARIDAN 13 III SWEET PEAS 24 IV AT POINDEXTERS' 39 V DEBATABLE QUESTIONS 53 VI A SAFE MAN 70 VII WARRY RARIDAN'S INDIGNATION 82 VIII TIM MARGRAVE MAKES A CHOICE 92 IX PARLEYINGS 97 X A WRECKED CANNA BED 106 XI THE KNIGHTS OF MIDAS BALL 121 XII A MORNING AT ST. PAUL'S 136 XIII BARGAIN AND SALE 152 XIV THE GIRL THAT TRIES HARD 166 XV AT THE COUNTRY CLUB 174 XVI THE LADY AND THE BUNKER 193 XVII WARRY'S REPENTANCE 206 XVIII FATHER AND DAUGHTER 213 XIX A FORECAST AT THE WHIPPLES' 229 XX ORCHARD LANE 237 XXI JAMES WHEATON MAKES A COMPUTATION 241 XXII AN ANNUAL PASS 250 XXIII WILLIAM PORTER RETURNS FROM A JOURNEY 258 XXIV INTERRUPTED PLANS 266 XXV JAMES WHEATON DECLINES AN OFFER 272 XXVI THE KEY TO A DILEMMA 279 XXVII A MEETING BETWEEN GENTLEMEN 289 XXVIII BROKEN GLASS 299 XXIX JOHN SAXTON, RECEIVER 310 XXX GREEN CHARTREUSE 313 XXXI PUZZLING AUTOGRAPHS 319 XXXII CROSSED WIRES 323 XXXIII A DISAPPEARANCE 332 XXXIV JOHN SAXTON SUGGESTS A CLUE 339 XXXV SHOTS IN THE DARK 352 XXXVI HOME THROUGH THE SNOW 370 XXXVII "A PECULIAR BRICK" 379 XXXVIII OLD PHOTOGRAPHS 384 XXXIX "IT IS CRUEL" 389 XL SHIFTED BURDENS 399 XLI RETROSPECTIVE VANITY 403 XLII AT THE PARTING OF THE WAYS 407 THE MAIN CHANCE CHAPTER I A NEW MAN IN TOWN "Well, sir, they say I'm crooked!"