The Fifth Wheel (Prouty)

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The Fifth Wheel (1916)
by Olive Higgins Prouty

Chapter 1

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3528850The Fifth Wheel1916Olive Higgins Prouty

The
FIFTH WHEEL

OLIVE HIGGINS PROUTY

THE FIFTH WHEEL

"'Why, Breck, don't be absurd! I wouldn't marry you for anything in the world'"—Page 24

THE
FIFTH WHEEL

A NOVEL

BY
OLIVE HIGGINS PROUTY

AUTHOR OF
"BOBBIE, GENERAL MANAGER"

WITH FOUR ILLUSTRATIONS BY
JAMES MONTGOMERY FLAGG

NEW YORK
FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY
PUBLISHERS

Copyright, 1916, by
Frederick A. Stokes Company

Copyright, 1915, 1916, by
The Phillips Publishing Company

DEDICATED
TO
MY MOTHER

CONTENTS

CHAPTER		PAGE
I.	Ruth Vars Comes Out	1
II.	Breckenridge Sewall	10
III.	Episode of a Small Dog	18
IV.	A Back-Season Débutante	27
V.	The Unimportant Fifth Wheel	36
VI.	Breck Sewall Again	44
VII.	The Millions Win	50
VIII.	The Horse-Show	56
IX.	Catastrophe	69
X.	A University Town	80
XI.	A Walk in the Rain	90
XII.	A Dinner Party	101
XIII.	Lucy Takes Up the Narrative	112
XIV.	Bob Turns Out a Conservative	124
XV.	Another Catastrophe	135
XVI.	A Family Conference	142
XVII.	Ruth Goes to New York	156
XVIII.	A Year Later	166
XIX.	Ruth Resumes Her Own Story	177
XX.	The Fifth Wheel Gains Wings	181
XXI.	In the Sewall Mansion	198
XXII.	The Parade	206
XXIII.	An Encounter with Breck	212
XXIV.	The Open Door	222
XXV.	Mountain Climbing	232
XXVI.	The Pot of Gold	239
XXVII.	Van de Vere's	248
XXVIII.	A Call from Bob Jennings	258
XXIX.	Longings	266
XXX.	Again Lucy Narrates	274
XXXI.	Ruth Draws Conclusions	282
XXXII.	Bob Draws Conclusions Too	291

ILLUSTRATIONS

"'Why, Breck, don't be absurd! I wouldn't marry you for anything in the world'" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		Frontispiece
		FACING PAGE
"'Men seem to want to make just nice soft pussy-cats out of us, with ribbons round our necks, and hear us purr'" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		128
"Straight ahead she gazed; straight ahead she rode; unafraid, eager, hopeful; the flag her only staff" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		170
"I was the only one in her whole establishment whom she wasn't obliged to treat as a servant and menial" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		202

THE FIFTH WHEEL

This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1929.

The longest-living author of this work died in 1974, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 49 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.

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