The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Early Bird, by George Randolph Chester

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Title: The Early Bird
A Business Man's Love Story

Author: George Randolph Chester

Illustrator: Arthur William Brown

Posting Date: September 14, 2006 [EBook #19272]
Release Date: December 20, 2008

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE EARLY BIRD ***

Produced by Al Haines

[Frontispiece: They stopped and had a drink of the cool water]

THE EARLY BIRD

_A Business Man's Love Story_

BY

GEORGE RANDOLPH CHESTER

Author of

THE MAKING OF BOBBY BURNIT

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY

ARTHUR WILLIAM BROWN

INDIANAPOLIS

THE BOBBS-MERRILL COMPANY

PUBLISHERS

COPYRIGHT 1910

THE BOBBS-MERRILL COMPANY

CONTENTS

CHAPTER

I A VERY BUSY YOUNG MAN
II MR. TURNER PLUNGES
III A MATTER OF DELICACY
IV GREEK MEETS GREEK
V MISS JOSEPHINE'S FATHER
VI MARASCHINO CHOCOLATES
VII A DANCE NUMBER
VIII NOT SAM'S FAULT THIS TIME
IX A VIOLENT FLIRT
X A PIANOLA TRAINING
XI THE WESTLAKES INVEST
XII ANOTHER MISSED APPOINTMENT
XIII A RIDE WITH MISS STEVENS
XIV MATRIMONIAL ELIGIBILITY
XV THE HERO OF THE HOUR
XVI AN INTERRUPTED PROPOSAL
XVII SHE CALLS HIM SAM!
XVIII A BUSINESS PARTNER

ILLUSTRATIONS

They stopped and had a drink of the cool water . . . _Frontispiece_

They waylaid him on the porch

Hepseba studied him from head to foot

Sam played again the plaintive little air

"I don't like to worry you, Sam"

"Excuse me!" stammered Mr. Stevens

THE EARLY BIRD

CHAPTER I

WHEREIN A VERY BUSY YOUNG MAN STARTS ON AN ABSOLUTE REST

The youngish-looking man who so vigorously swung off the train at
Restview, wore a pair of intensely dark blue eyes which immediately
photographed everything within their range of vision--flat green
country, shaded farm-houses, encircling wooded hills and all--weighed
it and sorted it and filed it away for future reference; and his
clothes clung on him with almost that enviable fit found only in
advertisements. Immediately he thre