Produced by Al Haines [Frontispiece: A new tenderness swept over her] THE TRIFLERS BY FREDERICK ORIN BARTLETT _With Illustrations by_ _George Ellis Wolfe_ TORONTO THOMAS ALLEN BOSTON AND NEW YORK HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY 1917 COPYRIGHT, 1916, BY EVERY WEEK CORPORATION COPYRIGHT, 1917, BY FREDERICK ORIN BARTLETT ALL RIGHTS RESERVED _Published March 1917_ TO ANN AND KENT CONTENTS I. THE TROUBLE WITH MONTE II. THE TROUBLE WITH MARJORY III. A SUMMONS IV. A PROPOSAL V. PISTOLS VI. GENDARMES AND ETHER VII. THE ADVANTAGES OF BEING SHOT VIII. DRAWBACKS OF RECOVERY IX. BLUE AND GOLD X. THE AFFAIR AT MAXIM'S XI. A CANCELED RESERVATION XII. A WEDDING JOURNEY XIII. A WEDDING JOURNEY (_continued_) XIV. THE BRIDE RUNS AWAY XV. IN THE DARK XVI. A WALK ON THE QUAY XVII. JUST MONTE XVIII. PETER XIX. AN EXPLANATION XX. PAYING LIKE A MAN XXI. BACK TO SCHEDULE XXII. A CONFESSION XXIII. LETTERS XXIV. THE BLIND SEE XXV. SO LONG XXVI. FREEDOM XXVII. WAR XXVIII. THE CORNICE ROAD XXIX. BENEATH THE STARS ILLUSTRATIONS LOI A NEW TENDERNESS SWEPT OVER HER . . . _Frontispiece_ "WE'RE TO BE MARRIED TO-MORROW?" MONSIEUR'S EYES WARMED AS HE SLIPPED THE WRAP OVER MADAME'S SHOULDERS "BECAUSE HE LOVES YOU," BREATHED BEATRICE "DID N'T BEATRICE TELL ME YOU REGISTERED HERE WITH YOUR WIFE?" "PETER!" SHE CRIED, FALLING BACK A STEP "BUT, O GOD, IF HE WOULD COME!" _From drawings by George E. Wolfe_ THE TRIFLERS CHAPTER I THE TROUBLE WITH MONTE For a man to keep himself consistently amused for ten years after his graduation from college, even with an inheritance to furnish ample financial assistance, suggests a certain quality of genius. This much Monte Covington had accomplished--accomplished, furthermore, without placing himself under obligations of any sort to the opposite sex. He left no trail of broken hearts in his wake. If some of the younger sisters of the big sisters took the liberty of falling in love with him secretly and in the privacy of their chambers, that was no fault of his, and did neither them nor him the slightest harm. Such minor complications could not very well be avoided, because, discreet as Monte tried to be, it was not possible for him to deny certain patent facts, to wit: that he was a Covington of Philadelphia; that he was six feet tall and light-haired; that he had wonderfully decent blue eyes; that he had a straight nose; that he had the firm mouth and jaws of an Arctic explorer; that he had more money than he knew what to do with; and that he was just old enough to be known as a bachelor without in the slightest looking like one. At the point where the older sisters gave him up as hopeless, he came as a sort of challenge to the younger.