The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Bachelors, by William Dana Orcutt

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Title: The Bachelors
A Novel

Author: William Dana Orcutt

Release Date: August 28, 2010 [EBook #33565]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BACHELORS ***

Produced by Annie McGuire

[Illustration: "LAUGH IF YOU LIKE; I SHAN'T MIND. THE MORE RIDICULOUS
YOU MAKE IT THE SHORTER WORK IT WILL BE."--_See page 244_]

THE BACHELORS
A NOVEL

BY
WILLIAM DANA ORCUTT

AUTHOR OF
"THE MOTH," "THE LEVER," "THE SPELL," ETC.

[Illustration]

HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS
NEW YORK AND LONDON
MCMXV

COPYRIGHT, 1915
BY HARPER & BROTHERS

* * * * *

THE BACHELORS

* * * * *

* * * * *

I

* * * * *

They were discussing Huntington and Cosden when the two men entered the
living-room of the Club and strolled toward the little group indulging
itself in relaxation after a more or less strenuous afternoon at golf.
It was natural, perhaps, that no one quite understood the basis upon
which their intimacy rested, for entirely aside from the difference in
their ages they seemed far separated in disposition and natural tastes.
Cosden's dynamic energy had made more than an average golf-player of
Huntington, and in other ways forced him out of the easy path of least
resistance; the older man's dignity and quiet philosophy tempered the
cyclonic tendencies of his friend. The one met the world as an
antagonist, and forced from it tribute and recognition; the other, never
having felt the necessity of competition, had formed the habit of taking
the world into his confidence and treating it as a friend.

These differences could not fail to attract the attention of their
companions at the Club as day after day they played their round
together, but this was the first time the subject had become a topic of
general conversation. The speaker sat with his back to the door and
continued his remarks after the newcomers came within hearing, in spite
of the efforts made by those ar