I Walked in Arden, by Jack Crawford. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, ©1922. LCCN: 22010549.
Following the Library of Congress’s catalog links, it appears that this book was penned by a man not known for his fiction. Jack Randall Crawford was associated with Yale University. He edited the Yale Hamlet (among others), and wrote a couple of plays. His collection of scene design files is in the Special Collections at the Yale Drama School Library.
This is a tale of an American-born, English-reared man who is sent back to America (to a town on Lake Erie) to do some business. There is quite a bit of fish-out-of-waterishness going on (at least in the first few chapters). There’s also some sort of mad alchemist.