90
XII. The Bishop Engages the Attention of the Guides 100
XIII. The World Goes Wrong with Mr. Raybold 105
XIV. The Assertion of Individuality 113
XV. A Net of Cobwebs to Cage a Lion 123
XVI. A Man who Feels Himself a Man 135
XVII. Mrs. Perkenpine Asserts Her Individuality 143
XVIII. The Hermits Associate 153
XIX. Margery's Breakfast 161
XX. Martin Asserts His Individuality 173
XXI. The Individuality of Peter Sadler 185
XXII. A Tranquillizing Breeze and a Hot Wind 194
XXIII. Mrs. Perkenpine Finds out Things about Herself 205
XXIV. A Dissolving Audience 212
XXV. A Moonlight Interview 220
XXVI. An Elopement 229
XXVII. Mrs. Perkenpine Delights the Bishop 239
XXVIII. The Hermits Continue to Favor Association 248

ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE
THE SUPPER Frontispiece
"'CAN THIS BE SADLER'S?'" 16
"'THEY THROW THE OTHER THINGS BACK'" 54
"A LESSON IN FLY-FISHING" 80
"BUT THE BISHOP KNEW BETTER" 98
"WITH A GREAT HEAVE SENT HIM OUT INTO THE WATER" 102
"'WHERE ARE ALL OUR FRIENDS?'" 150
"'HAVEN'T TRIED IT'" 202
"'IF THEY AIN'T THE CAMP ROBBERS!'" 232

THE ASSOCIATE HERMITS

CHAPTER I

THE DAWN OF A WEDDING-JOURNEY

Mr. and Mrs. Hector Archibald were prosperous and happy dwellers in a
suburb of one of our large towns. Fortune had favored them in many
ways--in health and in a good average happiness. They had reached early
middle age, and their daughter Kate, their only child, had grown up to be
a beautiful and good young woman, and was on the point of marrying a young
lawyer--Rodney Bringhurst by name--in every way worthy of her.

Hector Archibald was a little man, with small bright eyes, and hair
slightly touched with gray and very much inclined to curl. His disposition
was lively. He had a strong liking for cheerful occurrences, and was
always willing to do