Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-01-31
Andre1U Lang.

ALI her01neS are muckle-nOu u hno"
not why. 1t is expected of them. I know
she was melancholy and merry; it would
| not surprise me to learn that she drowned
herself in q canoe. But the william never
descended to crime, the first lover would
not fall in love, the heroine's own affections
were provokingly disengaged, and the whole
affair came to dead stop for want of plot.
True Mirror to Nature.
Perhaps, considering modern canons of
fiction, this might have been a very success
full novel 1t was entirely devoid of Incl
dent or interest, and, consequently, was
good deal like real life, as real life appears
to many cultivated authors On the other
hand, all the characters were f1ippant. This
| would never have done, and do not regret
novel No. 1, which had not even name
The second story had plot, quantities of
plot, nothing but plot. 1t was to have been
written in collaboration with very great
novelist, who, as far as we went, confined
himself to making objections. This novel
was stopped (not that my friend would ever
have gone on) by "Called Back" which an
ticipated part of the idea. The story was
entitled, "Where Is Rose?" and the motto
was Rosa quo locorum serd noratur.
The characters were: a. Rose, young
lady of quality, (2.) The Russian Princess,
her friend (need add that, to meet pub
lie demand, her name was Vera?). (3.)
Young man engaged to Rose. a. Charles,
his friend (5.) An enterprising person
named 'The Whiteley of Crime" The
rest were detectives, old ladies, mob, and
wealthy young Colonial larrikin.
This One Had a Dark Mystery.
Neither my friend nor was fond of de-
scribing love scenes, so we made the heroine
disappear in the second chapter, and she
never turned up again till chapter the last.
After playing in comedy at the house of
an Earl, Rose and Vera entered her
brougham. Immediately afterward the
brougham drew up, empty, at the Earl's
door. Where was Rose? Traces of her
were found, of all places, in the haunted
house in Berkeley Square, which is not
haunted any longer. Beyond that, Rose
was long sought in vain.
This, briefly, is what had occurred. A
Russian detective "wanted" Vera, who, to
be sure, was q Nihilist. To catch Vera he
made an alliance with t'The Whitley of
Crime" This gentleman was the universal
provider of iniquity. He would destroy
parish register, or forge will, or crack
crib, or break upa meeting, or burn house,
or kidnap rightful heir, or manage a'per-
sonation, or issue amateur bank notes, or
what you please. Thinking to kill two
birds with one stone, he carried off Rose for
her diamonds and Vera for his friend, the
Moscovite official, lodging them both in the
haunted house.
1t Had Siberia in II.
But there he and the Russian came to
blows, and, in the confusion, Vera made her
escape, while Rose was conveyed, as Vera,
to Siberia Not knowing how to dispose of
her, the Russian police confined her to q
nunnery at the mouth of the Obi. Her
lover found her hiding place, and got a
friendly nun to give her some narcotic
known to the Samoyeds. 1t was the old
true of the Friar in "Romeo and Juliet
At the mouth of the Obi they do not bury
the dead, but lay them down on platforms
in the open air. Rose was picked up there
by her lover accompanied by chaperon,
of course), and was got on board steam
yacht, and all went well. I forget what
happened to The Whiteley of Crime. After
him still rather hanker-he was humor-
Gus ruffian. Something could be made of
The Whiteley of Crime. "What offers?" as
the people say in the exchange and mart.
The next novel, based on a dream, was
called 'In Search of Qrart." What is
Qrart7 1 decline to divulge this secret be-
yond saying that Qrart was product of the
CIVILIZATION WHICH NOW Sleeps unQer Ine
SHOWS of the pole. 1t was an article of the
utmost, value to humanity. Further I do
not intend to commit myself The bride of
a god was one of the characters.
Away Back in the B. C'a
The next novel is, at present, my favorite
cigarette. The scene is partly in Greece,
partly at the Parthian Court, about 8O-60
b. C. Crassus is the villain. The heroine
was an actress in one of the wandering
Greek companies, splendid strollers who
played at the Indian and Asiatic courts
The story ends with the representation of
the Baccha, in Parthia. The head of Pen
theus is carried by one of the Bacche in
that drama. Behold, it is not a mask, but |
the head of Crassus, and thus CONVEYS the |
first news of the Roman defeat Obviously |
this is a novel that needs Q great deal of !
preliminary study.
Another story dealt with icelandic dis |
coveries of America. Mr.. Kipling, how
ever, has taken. the wind out of its sails |
with his sketch, ''The Finest Story in the |
World After that romance on the in |
trigues to make Charles Edward King of !
Poland sounds commonplace But much |
might be made of that, too, if the right man |
took it in hand. Believe me, there are |
plenty of stories left, waiting for the man |
who can tell them.
A Story About Poet.
Another cigarette have, the Adventures |
of a poet, Poet born in Puritan village |
of Massachusetts, about 1870. Hawthorne |
could have told me my story, and how my |