New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1886-02-28
NEW NOVELS.

A CLIFTON GIRL BY MRS. ANNIE EDWARDS Harper
e. Bros
TWO COLLEGE GIRLS. BY HELEN DAWES BROWN.
Boston: Ticknor Co
INQUIRENDO ISLAND. By HUDoR GENoNE. CT
Putnam Sons.
A CARDINAL SIN. BY nuGH CONWAY Henry Holt
TWO STROKES OF THE BELL r BY cEA RI HOWARD
STORIES OF PROVENCE. From the French OF
Aiphonse Daudet BY S. L. LEE Harper * Bros
THE POMFRET MYSTERY. BY ARTHUR Dupih'
VINTON. J.S OSivic * Co. -
A CRIMSON STAIN. BY ANNIE BRADSHAW. CasSeH
THE GHOSTS TOUCH AMI. OTHER STORIES by
WIKIE COLLINS Harper d Bros.
"Rainbow Gold" is an interesting. well-wrltteh
story of the od-fashiOned kind, with plenty OF
mystery in IT. and somewhat too much of that Gre
ation of wealth whereby many tale writers eVade
diAiculties To end0w hero with fortune lhler-
.ntiaIly obtained by robbery IL the first place. ana
then TO ge; over difficult situation by suddenly
resurIectng alarge sum in the funds LOT inc pe',e
fit of the heroine is rather too strong But II 'he
roo5or can overlook these defects he will hld the
story swing along bravely and smoothly TO the OF
thodoX end
In "a Gir.on Girl" Mrs. Edwards has given some
pleasant and clever description OF lie on one oil iDc
Channel Islands The girl who wants to go to
GIrton is half Spanish, half French descendant oi
an old Prote slant emigrant family, preserving the
charms and defects of both races and altogether
being bewildrring young person. Another
nleasaut portrait, perhaps the best piece OF Work
in the book that of the young levonShue beauty,
Dmah Arbuthnot. 4 simple but morally sohd
character. mated to a frivolous and shallow artist
husband who ncg,ects her ard ilirts with other
peoples wives, her prospects are dark enough
and while her final rehabilitation may please inc
average reader better than conscientious working
out of the tendencies established would have DONE
hat tho han mt
of her troubles is nartistic and wholly III contra
dict,on of the character ascrbed TO CASTOR Arbuth-
NOT Rut the tale is clever and holds the interest
we'll 10 the end.
"Two COLLEGE Girls is a simple and unemotion9I
story of the college career of two girls of opposed
character and temperament. The college HE IS uc-
scribed with much freshness and hrnneSS OF t"nch'
Thesketches ofthe many grlslntrodu'ci aregraphlc.
The tone of the book is thoroughly healthy, ana
hougb there is very little action iii IT, the story Is
interesting probably in the main because there can
be little doubt that it was drawn from the lie.
The autnor of InGuirendo Island has written
satire on the model of SwIfts masterpiece. lie
imacnes an island the inhabitants OF which are de
seconded from the survivors of a shipwrcck. Their
ancestors came ashore on raft. and a fragment OF
this raft is preserved and worsmpped as
sort of Ark of the Covenant An
old copy Of an arithmetic has III like manner been
adoptcd as an inspired scripture ana the islanders
call their conception of the Absolute Mathcmit-
les" Though surrounded by the sen they nave
learned nothing of navigation, nor VIII they be-
Lcvc It possible for any one to cross the ocean Ne
story Is a satire too obvious IN It's significance 10
need explanation, but while 1t is not wanting III
ingenuity probability is too frequently aud re X
lcssly violated throughout. 1t appears from what
the author calls the "post-facc' moreover, that
whe,. ne had finished his book he was somewhat
ashamed of it. or doubtful as to its reception
What lie saws does not constitute JnStli-
cation Of the publication, suppo>lng nm
not TO hold the views toward religion when the
story implies and if he does hold those views the
attempt TO hedge on them seems rather superiiuous
and undiauifed.
The public crcduhty is beng severely taxed "f'
the late +. j. Fargus .iIugh Conway. since he
died long string Of publications. short stores ana
novels bearing his name has issued from the press
and there IS vet no sign of end 10 IT, though IT
does not seem credible that any man should have
left so much completed work behind him. a Cardi-
nal SIN ascrbed to him. not good story as the
Family Affair." but it is fairly interesting tale
Of the sensational school, the leading motive beng
the result Of a murder committed by member OF
Parliament under the most impossible, not to say
improbable, circumstances. There Is no evidence
of special ability in any direction IN the DOCK
There are tive hundred writer's unknown to fame
who do as good work. 1t is to be hoped that the
family of Mr.. Conway profit by these poathumou'
publications, for certainly they are of character
10 extingulsh the vogue into winch Called Back
so nexphcably brought his writings,
"Two Strokes of the Bell" is advertised as the
work of a Boston journalist who enters the held "i
fiction for the first time. The story is sensational
and deals with a neutrality-suspicious. qnes-
ton young man finds himself suddenly III
strange bed. amid surroundings equally strange.
He Is unable to recover the past at all HIS mem
ory IS paralyzed by some shock OF by illnoss. The
situation Is one which affords ample room for III
oenious novelties and the author shows consider
able skill III working ont the conception. lie
seems however, to have found that 1t would not 40
to make the mncmonic paralysis TOO complete
since III that case the mans past would remain In
copable Of being utilized so scielcc had to be
sacrificed to the exigencies Of the story, and the
hero was permitted to have confused partial
recolcctlons The least ski full thing In the story
IS his sub-remembrance OF the rooms where MS
mistress lived, at the same time that he had a lar
less distinct feeling when brought INTO the presence
of his wife If the love of his wife really had been
the strongest sentiment in his character previous
to the shock which paralyzcd his memory, the pre-
spuiption IS that he would have recalled that por-
lion of his past more clearly and sooner than any
other In some other respects the story SHOWS III
experience, but 1t is not without a certain power
Alphonse Daude.'s Lettrcs de mon Moulin are
among the most delightful examples OF the very
! best kind of short stories extant They have none
| of the coarse faults Of common French hctIon.
They are tender graceful, full of the breath OF the
| Proveuca country where they were written, strong
with subtle simplicity artistic IN the highest
sense through their apparent artlessneSs. keposo
keen and kindly observ alton. the grace and lglt-
ness which are peculiarly Alphonse Daudets, APP
pear in every page of these charming little
sketches which are models to make the
ordinary tale-wrter despair The present
translation is moderately good one, but II is no