CHAPTER I Fate in a Bathtub 1

II Birth of an Idea 7

III Macnooder Opens Vistas 10

IV Loneliness of Great Men 16

V The Golden Shower 21

VI Methods of a Financier 26

VII Tragedy 37

VIII When Friends Prove False 40

IX Snorky as a Lady-Killer 51

X Love Lightly Considered 59

XI The Demon of Jealousy 62

XII All's Well That Ends Well 70

XIII A Woman of the World 74

XIV The Plot Against the Mosquito 83

XV The Tennessee Shad Suspects 94

XVI Experiments in Fragrance 99

XVII Soap and Sentiment 110

XVIII Love Comes Like the Measles 118

XIX The Urchin Begins to Bloom 127

XX The Heart of a Brunette 135

XXI Worldly Wisdom of Skippy Bedelle 145

XXII Girls as an Epidemic 151

XXIII The Blonde of the Species 160

XXIV Result of a Brother's Advice 169

XXV Antics of a Talking Machine 175

XXVI Containing Some High Melodrama 183

XXVII Hickey in a Deadly Rôle 194

XXVIII Sitting It Out 200

XXIX Dead Game Sports 206

XXX Experiments in a Dress Suit 214

XXXI Shirt Studs as Cupid's Messenger 222

XXXII Living up to an Angel 230

XXXIII Sudden Interest in the Bible 242

XXXIV The Way of the Transgressor 248

XXXV The Scalp Hunter 257

XXXVI Splashing With Your Toes 275

XXXVII Skippy Retires With His Scalp 279

XXXVIII The Philosophical Attitude 289

XXXIX Love Plus Hippo 305

XL Reality Minus Hippo 312

ILLUSTRATIONS

They walked in silence, oppressed by the greatness of their grief _Frontispiece_

PAGE

Instantly the air was filled with flying sponges 4

"Good gracious!" cried Miss Dabtree with an impetuous lunge towards the point of attack 78

"Really, Jack, I'm beginning to suspect you're an old hand." 140

He balanced carefully, stretched out one arm to encircle an imaginary waist 172

The partner of his arms, escaping, rolled over towards Tootsie 182

SKIPPY BEDELLE