Crocker spends his summers at Asquith, a fictitious lakeside resort. He is surprised to see his old friend the Celebrity, who has also decided to vacation in Asquith. The Celebrity has decided to travel incognito in order to lessen the burden of his celebrity. He goes by the name Charles Wrexell Allen, which he stole from a man in Boston who resembles the Celebrity enough to be his doppelganger. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke, a wealthy Philadelphian who is buying up timber lands in the area, is another newcomer to Asquith. He's too loud and unrefined for stuffy old Asquith, and he parties too hard, so he decides to build his own resort nearby called Mohair. The two gentlemen start courting two beautiful women. The Celebrity's assumed name causes a case of mistaken identity, and his escape from this sticky situation is thorny.

Churchill was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and attended Smith Academy in Missouri and the United States Naval Academy, where he graduated in 1894. He joined the Army and Navy Journal as an editor after graduating. In order to pursue a writing career, he left the American Navy. He was appointed managing editor of the Cosmopolitan Magazine in 1895, but he left that position in less than a year to devote more time to writing. He was a published poet and essayist in addition to being a famous author. Some of his famous works include The Celebrity (1898), Richard Carvel (1899) The Crisis (1901), Coniston (1906), Mr. Crewe's Career (1908), A Modern Chronicle (1910), The Inside of the Cup (1913), A Far Country (1915) and The Dwelling-Place of Light (1917).