Chapter I: Front Matter

THE PROOF OF THE PUDDING

“NOW WE’RE IN FOR IT!” SAID NAN UNCOMFORTABLY]

THE PROOF OF THE
PUDDING

BY
MEREDITH NICHOLSON

_With Illustrations_

BOSTON AND NEW YORK
HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY
The Riverside Press Cambridge
1916

COPYRIGHT, 1915 AND 1916, BY THE RED BOOK CORPORATION
COPYRIGHT, 1916, BY MEREDITH NICHOLSON

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

_Published May 1916_

By Meredith Nicholson

=THE PROOF OF THE PUDDING.= Illustrated.

=THE POET.= Illustrated.

=OTHERWISE PHYLLIS.= With frontispiece in color.

=THE PROVINCIAL AMERICAN AND OTHER PAPERS.=

=A HOOSIER CHRONICLE.= With illustrations.

=THE SIEGE OF THE SEVEN SUITORS.= With illustrations.

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY
BOSTON AND NEW YORK

TO
CARLETON B. McCULLOCH

CONTENTS

I. A YOUNG LADY OF MOODS 1

II. THE AFFAIRS OF MRS. COPELAND 20

III. MR. FARLEY BECOMES EXPLICIT 39

IV. NAN AND BILLY’S WIFE 57

V. A COLLECTOR OF FACTS 68

VI. AN ERROR OF JUDGMENT 87

VII. WELCOME CALLERS 99

VIII. MRS. COPELAND’S GOOD FORTUNE 113

IX. A NARROW ESCAPE 124

X. THE AMBITIONS OF MR. AMIDON 136

XI. CANOEING 151

XII. LAST WILLS AND TESTAMENTS 165

XIII. A KINNEY LARK AND ITS CONSEQUENCES 175

XIV. BILLS PAYABLE 194

XV. FATE AND BILLY COPELAND 208

XVI. AN ABRUPT ENDING 226

XVII. SHADOWS 243

XVIII. NAN AGAINST NAN 256

XIX. NOT ACCORDING TO LAW 263

XX. THE COPELAND-FARLEY CELLAR 275

XXI. A SOLVENT HOUSE 283

XXII. NULL AND VOID 292

XXIII. IN TRUST 301

XXIV. “I NEVER STOPPED LOVING HIM!” 317

XXV. COPELAND’S UNKNOWN BENEFACTOR 327

XXVI. JERRY’S DARK DAYS 337

XXVII. “JUST HELPING; JUST BEING KIND!” 354

ILLUSTRATIONS

“NOW WE’RE IN FOR IT!” SAID NAN UNCOMFORTABLY _Frontispiece_

“A VERY CHARMING PERSON--A LITTLE DEVILISH, BUT KEEN AND AMUSING” 26

“OH, I HAD ONE GLASS; NOBODY HAD MORE, I THINK; THERE WAS SOME
KIND OF MINERAL WATER BESIDES. IT WAS ALL VERY SIMPLE” 44

NAN EXPERIENCED SUDDENLY A DISTURBING SENSE OF HER INFERIORITY
TO THIS WOMAN 62

“I’M NOT LOSING ANYTHING; AND BESIDES, I’M HAVING A MIGHTY GOOD
TIME” 66

THE FURTIVE TOUCH OF HIS HAND SEEMED TO ESTABLISH AN
UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN THEM THAT THEY WERE SPECTATORS, NOT
PARTICIPANTS IN THE REVEL 188

THE TOUCH OF HER WET CHEEK THRILLED HIM 372

_From drawings by C. H. Taffs_

THE PROOF OF THE PUDDING