The herald., 1893-11-12
|I|wS'Tl,4IANIHoRS
\ RHE73F'{H!5Ss}1o -

! charming child's story, and later A
Chronicle OF Conquest, whore Polly as a
Vassar student spends some time at the
Carlisle Indian school; Ouoqua. story
Of reservation life, have all been written
/ within tho past few years. in which
much other work also has been done.
Before Chronicle OF CONQUEST was
written, several months we're spent at
the Carlisle school in the study OF the
India- work And before writing
Ouoqua, she, in addition to this expert
ence of Indians, staid for time among
them on reservation.
Her special preparation for the story
now publshed. A Wedding Tangle,
came in her early days. in the stories
and anecdotes of the old people in her
family who. reaching back, had almost
touched hands with those in the times
! in which the story is laid. For when,
/ as Longfellow tells, the old Governor
Wentworth made his wedding feast and
'had invited all his friends and peers"
These were: The Pepperells. the
Langdons, and the Lears, the Spar
hawks, the Penhallows and the rest.
| A Wedding Tangle, is first
ofall a love story. From be-
ginning to end the other interests which
tu6 bbOTJ UohIb BIG dlWdNo buOSOlNiCho
to this main purpose, that of telling the
story OF a young man and a young
woman who love each other. How this
love lives and grows on it's obstacles and
strengthens by the very means that
would seem to destroy its possibility, it
is the business of the story to tell. and
the heart of the work lies in the paint
ing of the lights and shadows, the high
lights and shadows that each in their
way make the lives and hearts OF the
actors gloom and glow before us. For
throughout the story one feels in the
midst of reality. And yet in these very
characters, and in the subordinate ones,
and in the scenes and the age of the
story, there is something out OF the beat
en- track. 1t has seemed odd, in this
dec ade. that we who are building our
colonial houses and painting in our colo
nial colors and decorating in our colonial
style, we whose high ambition it ie at
present to have new houses and new
furniture an exact reproduction OF the
old---it seems strange that we should
not have in our literature stories of the
old-time people who lived in these
houses, and whose manners, as
stately as their minuets, admirably
suited the dignity of their decor ltions.
In A Wedding Tangle we have The set
ting of her love story just the time to
which the colonies own, perhaps 1t ia
not too much to Fay, their very exist
ence, when New England showed in
behalf of her mother country just that
spirit and nerve and pluck and endur-
ance which England should have
stored away in her memory and brought
out upon the right occasion, which
would have been before che tried to COW
us into submission to an injustice. The
siege and capture of Louisburg did
much to decide the question OF whether
these colonies should be under English
or French rule; it also was of great help
70 England in a year when her flag met
with many disasters by land and sea.
That a general who had never seen
siege captured the American Gibraltar,
and that farmers trained only in their
fields and their Indian skirmishes en-
dured the miseries and sufferings of the
siege was an earnest of the days of the
revolution prophesy of victory, il one
could have read it; and. beyond ques-
ton, the memory of this victory
strengthened the resistance that later
made ue an independent nation.
But it ia not merely the scene which
is colonial. The characters have in
them something of the dignity and force
OF the time and there are touches OF the
manners and ways OF looking at things
that keep up the spirit OF the age well.
The plot OF the story turns upon the
result of an incident told in the first
chapter where party of young people
are becalmed upon the beautiful Pieca-
taqua river. The event publicly trans-
pires only at the wedding, or would-be
wedding, of Stephen Archdale and
his cousin. Here Elizabeth Royal brings
in the confession OF Harwin, in an agony
that she must show it, and yet not dar-
ing to withhold it. She comes in as
the guests are waiting for the bridal
party and gives the paper to the minis.
ter, and IN that way the wedding ia
tangled. The manner in which the
readers will find the wedding was un-
tangled, will alao show them that the
incidents connected with the latter half
OF the story are not more romantic or
remarkable than those which are known
to have been OF frequent occurrence in
that day of adventure in new world.
Although A Wedding Tangle is very
different from the other forceful stories
in which Miss Sparhawk has summoned
all her skill to the aid of the Indian, it
it ia quite as powerful as they is full OF
suggestion, with many O scene OF pas
zion anu pathos, and is book at once
bright and wholesome. and, for all it's
simplicity, of enchanting interest. To
readers who enjoy bright, interesting
historical novel, with something of the
charm of the old writers, OF Bunyan, OF
De Foe, with certain sweet femineity
added to it, will find this effort entirely
satisfactory.
Robert Bonner Sons are now repro
ducing in their choice series a new
translation from Balzasc. Their latest
edition in this elegant edition OF paper.
bound novels by this distinguished au-
thar is Love, translated by Francis H.
Sheppard, U. S. ~, with illustrations
by the artist, f. A. Garter. This is an
admirable translation of one of the most
refined and spiritual books in any lam
guage. 1t deals with love, but that
great passion is embodied in the souls
of men and women who suffered the
great trials and sftiictions which
overlook the victims of the first
French revolution. The principal
characters belong to the old aristocracy
OF France, who escaped only with their
lives, to enact the role of ministers of
charity in the very place whore had
atood the guillotine, and to the people
who had clamored for their blood, This
novel should be read in connection with