Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-04-28
THE CRITICS REVIEW.

gees New Book-Sketch of Scotch
Country Parish.
aTHE SPLENDID SPUR" (Cassell Publish
ing Co.. H. Watts & Co., so cents) ID
written by somebody who hides his identity be-
hind the letter @. Such excellent work, how
ever, ought not to remain anonymous. 1.-THE
Splendid Spur" belongs with Stevenson's
''Black Arrow" and Coran Doyle's "Micah
Clarke" 1t is the same sort Of book-a story
of hundred and more adventures. escapes,
fightings, victories and deeds of daring. Like
"Micah Clarke, the scene is laid in the days Of
the struggle between the Roundheads and the
Puritans, and the plot is the record for the
most part, of a perilous journey. Like the
"Black Arrow" the hero and the heroine. two
most charming people. 20 hand in hand
through all the dangers. 1.-THE Splendid
Spur" like each of these others which it re-
sembles, is written in the quaint language Of
that old day.
Indeed, we would find it hard to say which Of
these excellent books we like best. And that,
with such surprisingly good writers In the al
Tentative as Stevenson and Doyle, means a
great deal. 1t is little odd to think OF Steven.
sons name connected with 1.-THE Wrong Box"
which has not a trace of Stevenson's style
about it, and then "The Splendid Spur" which
Is delightfully."- Stevensonesque from beginning
to end, and only a letter to indicate the author.
Some books are worth reading for their style
and some for their plot but "Ihe Spisndla
Spur" rewards the reader in both particulars.
Such adventuresl Out of the frying pan into
the fire nearly every time. but still escaping az
the eDdi And such remarkable colncldences!
Exactly the right thing happening at precisely
the right tmel The book is full of action.
There Is fighting to be done. rufians to be faced
prisons to be escaped out of fair ladies to be
defended, castles to be broken into villains 10
be unmasked, war going on and the course OF
ir yubi hero
rying to bring; a capital brave young fellow is
Jack Marvel and Della, the heroine, is too
charming for description.
Whoever wrote ''The Splendid Spur" knows
how to write the clearest and purest Shake
spearian English, and how to construct the
most elaborate and thrilling series OF adven-
lures which one can well imagine
*x*
UNTIss MoRDECK's FATHER" (Dodd, Mead
4'i & Co., 81. Watts & Co., 81 00) leaves all
the conventional plots quite to one side 1t is re-
freshine for its perfect freshness of situation.
1t begins with two heroines SO absolutely alike
that the hero cannot tell them apart, neither of
them being aware of the existence of the other,
and the hero never dreaming that there is more
than one in the world who bears the features OF
his lady-loye. This of itself promises plenty OF
predicaments but the strongest part OF the
story comes after and centers ABOUT MISS
Mordeck's Father" as the title indicates. IL
Stories" after each of which we stop and say
to ourselves, "Well, why notT' 1t would De un-
fair to reveal the secrect which hangs vell OF
mystery over Miss Mordeck's Father; II IS
best to leave that for everybody's individual
guessing. The author has read some OF the
singular disappearance stories which have been
in the papers now and then for the past year or
two, and has used them most skilifully.
The best part of "Miss Mordeck's Father" Is
the plot The naming of the characters Is
particularly absurd. "Shreves Chlson" ana
"Browne Mordeck" and "Naida Sunbar" are
little too much on the sensational order Ine
conversations are pretty well DONE But the
plot Is the emphatic virtue OF the oooR: Ii
ever one could wish for the realization OF the
conditions of that charming Japanese romance
s.The Shadow in the Water" in which the nero
marries both are heroines, 1t is here.
So
JUDGE ToURGEE is very well posted on the
] law and or the negro question. He has
written a good deal in one way and another
about the negro question, and his ideas are well
known. His last book, which we received some
months ago-"With Graye and Swallow"-was
a book of law stories. The lawyer anu the
negro are both present in the pages OF Pdctoths
Prime. (Cassell Publishing Company, ]. r.
Wedin & Co.. 81 SOY There is quite an in
genious plot running through the book, though
it takes the reader quite while to get TO IL
And even when the plot is fully developed the
details of 1t are not quite clear. But the iauls
The story opens in the basement OF tne Best
House in Washington. where Pactolus Prime Is
blacking boots. For this is the position OF tne
hero. He is boot6lack VINO Is lumorea 20
vested earnings, and who certainly mas the glit
of speech and the gift of making other people
speak. The customers come in and there Is
long series of conversations-rather too long
some may think-all being upon the negro
question. The point upon which the converse
tions turn is whether or not the negro really
11,o oofn ore
brought in as stalking horses for the display OF
arguments enter, some of them again. as a part
of the story. The story is pathetic enough:
And in spite of its being somewhat oVerlald
with dissertation, attracts and retains the read
ers interest.
IT seems to be unnecessary that the publishers
should preface their books, as here and in
1.-THE Splendid Spur with page or two OF
advertisement. 1t would be better
to let the writer speak for himself, as both OF
these writers are quite capable of doing. Here
is good sentence. however, out of the intro
duction which tells the truth about the book
and ITS hero admirably. "Pactolus Prime is
the Edipus of American fiction, not less marked
than his classical prototype in the singular
pathos of his life, in the patience and hopeless
bitterness with which he faces his destiny,
and in the exalted philosophy with which he
passes by the half-unconscious instruments
of his doom, to denounce and dety the I'M
tendencies which impel him and them
toward fate as inexorable as that which the
weird sisters meted out to the woful victim of
the most thrilling of the Greek tragedies.
H$*
oDAvID TODD: the Romance of his Life
and Loving tCassell Publishing Com
pany, ]. R. Weldin e. Co., so cents), is series
of pictures There is story in the book. and
a yery good one; story which conceives the
disposition of a large sum Of money, and
the identifying of lost heirs. and one love affair
which goes wrong and another which goes right,
and brave act of honest and honorable self
denial 1t is bad enough for DAVID Todd TO
lose his lady love- but to lose fortune also,
and to have them both go the same wayIlnto
the keeping of his rival-this is bad indeed.
This is the story. But the story is the least
part of it. The book is a series of sketches of
the people of country parish IN scotland
where David Todd is minister. The scotch
dialect is capitally done, and the people are
made very real.
which one would look for in little old Scotch
town like Crosscairn. They were. most of
them of the mind OF the good old woman who
in strange place went into strange church,
and seeing inscribed over the pulpit God Is
love-" made haste to get away, reailzng with
sensation of horror that she had entered the
doors of cOnyenticle of heretical Universal
lists, and found refuge in another church
around the tcoIner upon whose walls was en-
blazoned the legend: Our God is consuming
fire." Ding dongl Ding, ,dongr' The bell in
the tower answering to Sandy's hand clangs
and clashes overhead in noisy tempest of
sound which melts in gradual tones to a clear
and ringing voice, dying at last amid series of
ierkey rumblings and vibrations up among the
rafters Then it goes out of existence finally with
a rasping groan and sigh of relief, as the rope
chafes the revolving wheel. The Crosscairn
people, listening underneath, hear in the
first loud clang of the bell a suggestion of the
last trump and the final Judgment, it may be;
for they start, whenever it comes, like guilty
persons, and in the rumbling vibration of
sound, and the wheeling sigh OF the chafng
rope are reminded of the death rattle of some
sinner
IS
a t last the bell stops and the service begins.
n singing, Psalms of David. long meter, led
by precentor who whines through his nose.
Then the long prayer and after that the sermon,