# The Arm-chair at the Inn

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[Illustrated by A. I. Keller, Herbert Ward and the author.] For what this story attempts it is an unusually good example of the type. It is hardly a novel at all; merely a series of interesting tales and episodes woven around several picturesque and attractive characters. It owes direct lineage to the Tales of a Wayside Inn, though Mr. Smith has not been entirely the victim of a pedigree. {...] He has selected, as the starting point to the story, a group of hungry men who have been annually meeting at an old historic inn on the coast of France. [...] the talk covers, in fact, the entire range of human activities, from the psychology of fear to the justification of le mariage de convenance, with incidental side lights on hunting, eating, art, literature, love and religion.—From a review in The Bookman, October 1912
THE ARM-CHAIR AT THE INN
BOOKS BY F. HOPKINSON SMITH Published by CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
* The Arm-Chair at the Inn. Illustrated net $1.50
* Kennedy Square, Illustrated 1.50
* Peter. Illustrated 1.50
* The Tides of Barnegat. Illustrated 1.50
* The Fortunes of Oliver Horn. Illustrated 1.50
* The Romance of an Old-Fashioned Gentleman. Illustrated 1.50
* Colonel Carter's Christmas. Illustrated 1.50
* Forty Minutes Late. Illustrated 1.50
* The Wood Fire in No. 3. Illustrated 1.50
* The Veiled Lady. Illustrated 1.50
* At Close Range. Illustrated 1.50
* The Under Dog. Illustrated 1.50
Mignon
THE ARM-CHAIR AT THE INN
BY
F. HOPKINSON SMITH
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY
A. I. KELLER. HERBERT WARD
AND THE AUTHOR
NEW YORK
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
1912
Copyright, 1912, by CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
Published August, 1912

### AUTHOR'S PREFACE

F. H. S.
November, 1911
CONTENTS
* chapterpage
* I.The Marmouset3
* II.The Wood Fire and Its Friends18
* III.With Special Reference to a Certain Colony of Penguins34
* IV.The Arrival of a Lady of Quality60
* V.In which the Difference Between A Cannibal and a Freebooter is Clearly Set Forth95
* VI.Proving that the Course of True Love Never Did Run Smooth120
* VII.In which Our Landlord Becomes Both Entertaining and Instructive144
* VIII.Containing Several Experiences and Adventures Showing the Wide Contrasts in Life163
* IX.In which Madame la Marquise Binds Up Broken Heads and Bleeding Hearts182
* X.In which We Entertain a Jail-bird211
* XI.In which the Habits of Certain Ghosts, Goblins, Bandits, and Other Objectionable Persons Are Duly Set Forth240
* XII.Why Mignon Went to Market267
* XIII.With a Dissertation on Round Pegs and Square Holes280
* XIV.A Woman's Way304
* XV.Apple-blossoms and White Muslin335
ILLUSTRATIONS
* MignonFrontispiece
* facing page
* Howls of derision welcomed him30
* Flooding the garden, the flowers, and the roofs60
* As her boy's sagging, insensible body was brought clear of the wreck132
* Herbert caught up his sketch-book and … transferred her dear old head … to paper184
* Lemois crossed the room and began searching through the old fifteenth-century triptych240
* "Just think, monsieur, what does go on below Coco in the season"308
* First, of course, came the mayor—his worthy spouse on his left350
THE ARM-CHAIR AT THE INN
This work was published before January 1, 1929, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.
Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse