Evening journal., 1889-07-31
MODERN AMERICAN NOVELIST.

II 0fAAAthAt9 ARhnAoSht0
OF Mr.. Edgar Saltus, the newest
American novelist it may be said that
Parody crouches at his feet like a
beaten hound. Parody cannot touch him,
unless it be true that none but himself
can be his parodist. Indeed the question
arises, is Mr.. Saltus in earnest with his
style, or (as seems more probable) is
this only ramifcation of the Great
American Joker We much prefer the
latter opinion, which will recommend it.
self to every reader Of his funniest book,
"a Transaction in Hearts" (Routledge).
This work might also be called "a Trans
action of Heads, or at least in skulls We
by no means charge Mr.. Saltus with be-
ing responsible for the morals Of his
characters, which are queer; for, what
ever he may approve of, he disapproves
Of them. But does he approve of his own
style, or is all this practical jestP A
Jest it is, whether modern "stylists"
thinks so or'quite the contrary.
We start with clergyman who bears
the sonorous name of Gonfallon, and
whose carriage rolled into doomed and
creaking peninsula" He had been a viii
lage priest; during an entire decade he
had wasted his fervor on collection of
cattle" In rural obscurity he had known
a Countess whose Count has disappeared
with her own familiar friend Later he
found the skulls of her own familiar
friend and of the Count among the Coun-
tesss most cherished possessions. She
had cut them off "tooling,' DeQuincey
says, with an axe" SHARP work" as
Bulbo remarked. on a similar occasion.
But we anticipate. The eyes of the
Rev. Mr. Gonfallon. now a fashionable
preacher in New York, were of the
green black which is noticeable in
dysodile coal. The skin of Mrs. Con
fallon. on the other hand, had been ebur
mean in charity, and her eyes of iserene
so the pair seemed ftly mated. But she
had a sister; and she became an invalid.
Now, her sister exaled the clear odor OF
acorno and of mines; while her features
had the surety OF an intaglio, and her
skin (Mr Saltus is great on skins was
the hue OF the white rose which has q
sulphur heart. Though he was myao
Mr.. Gonfallon's dysodiles eyes preferred
to contemplate the sister with the surety
of an intaglio; and this was a very
wrong thing in a married clergyman
His wife's hand, in short, no longer com
municsted that spasm which, in days
gone by. had seized him between tn,
shoulder blades, leaving him during thS
moment that followed quasi, or"quasily,
| dumb, as Mr. Saltus also puts it. "A,
therefore kissed his sister in-law (hert
details are freely given), and the young
lady murmured. There; don't hurt I
/ fellowp
On that lady's bed, as Mr.. Gonfallol
discovered by personal inspection during
her absence was "a coverlet smooth a.
an anapest surmounted by monogram
med pillows" And What am l doinj
here2" unused Mr.. Gonfallon. What, in
deed2 From afar came the rumble of thl
elevated railway In that passionate
cline even railways get elevated. 81
Mr.. Gonfallon made love to his sister-in
law downstairs. in a style of pulpit elo
quence. "Oh, say, drop all that~ sh
interrupted. So he sat palpitant in alter
nations of elation and remorse. Blu
what there was to be elated about we
not clearly perceive. Next he rea,
Schrader, a German, and found in AssyT
10 Accsdian myth the fabric Of the Pen
tateuch, which was odd, as, in fact, it /
not there. Then he asked Chaos +
take that nothing back, " but no none
Is returned by Chaos. The sister in Law
had an admirer whom she called a "de
testsble little cad, and who lent he
money when her father had forged
check, and finally she married the detes
table little cad. That is the story, some
what confused by two skulls in tw
boxes, and by the devices of a novels
named Alphabet Jones, who talked abou
Flaubert, and by a fatherin-law VIII
s1rged like a partition. Nor has Mr.
Saltus himself culled any flower Of speecl
which pleases us more than surging lik
| a partition. And our curiosity has not bee
more powerfully excited than by some on
who was 'unimagineable as Abistek
(the scholiast suggest "unimaginative a
beefsteak'9 Finally Mrs. Gonfallo
surprised her husband making love to he
sister, who saved the situation by vowin
that she had been declaring her engage
ment to the detestable little cad whoI
she loved, "lots and lots-corner lots.
Mr. Gonfallon decided that she was a
adder, and that he would fang her, bu
he did not fang her ION the other hand
he "consecrated her nuptials' wit
the detestable little cad, as ii
"sacerdos. Here-it is the onl
, fault we have to urge-Mr Saltus migE
have heightened his style by using I'll
word "reredos At last, when IL
crouching shadows elongated and lappe
: the wall, he groped through the darkne
to Mrs Gonfallon. And, for a man wit
dysodle eyes, a man who diffused ele
tricity, we don't see what he had to cor
plain Of. especially as he was also ms
Of 40 Luckily, Mrs. Gonfallon w
3 clairvoyant as a nyctalop which shou
have reconciled him TO life. 0 Abiste
Z how unimaginable are all these things
B Saturday Raviaw