The evening world., 1895-09-14
THE WORLD: SATURDAY EVENING SEPTEMBER H. 1885
GIRL WITH A BAD EYE.
Another Girl Makes . story About
Her. and Here IL what IT'S Like.

MISS Etnel DAVIS - very eVluently
beginner. but as she has secured the
chareronage of publishers as seemly as
Messrs. Estes d Laur.at, OF Boston.
she shall not escape just a dash OF at
tention. Besides, her novel, when Love
Is Done" Is served up In a pretty Nile
green cloth cover, with lovely gold stripes
on 1t. And this cover l will say unhesi-
tatinglv, is quite the best part of the
book. Miss Davis, however Is plucky.
She has the quality known as grit. for
she has selected as her heroine a lady
with a turned eye. Mary Eldr!dge's
refined face was spoiled by a marked
imperfection in the eyes. one being
turned badly. and OF blurred pale
color almost without outline to the iris.
A heroine thus de- e-beautified Is quite un-
usual. Mary Eldridee made the best of
her affliction by dropping her lids very
quickly whenever anybody gazed at her
keeniy. Exactly why Miss Davis blurred
this young woman's eye before starting
her through the 30l pages Of her novel
| can't tell. The blurr has very little
10 do with the story, for 1t does not ap-
pear that Mary ever wanted to make
eyes, at Casper Shea. To be logical,
Miss Davis should have shown her to
us making one eye at him. women,
however, are SO seldom logical.
Casper first saw Mary at a temper
ance meeting. and the instant he noted
her eye he nearly recoilcd step
Tho admir- able "authoress' doesn't tell
us what would have happened If he had
quite rccoiled a step. Probably he would
have trodden on New England toe.
10 " 5,I n
recol gracefully you need plenty of
room. Shea was the most un!ntcrest-
ing hero that thoroughly uninterest-
ing author could possibly drag forth,
but Miss Davis, Ike most novices,
starts in by explaining him and analyz-
ing him carefully before she consigns
him to the task of being nobody and
doing nothing. Miss Davis tells us that
''he began to consider If a thoroughly
refined murderer were not far less
harmful in his influence on society than
a vulgar philanthroplst.'
/ Well. Casper met the girl with the
eye. and made arrangements to give her
lessons in literature. q should recon-
mend Miss Davis to take d fcw herself)
He was an elegant man Of leisure, but
had gone to the little New ENGLAND
town Of Capeport as a school-tcacher-
just for fun That IL SO like our elegant
man of leisure, isn't It? Mary soon
grew to like him--hcr blurred eye not
withstanding, and on page ~ she said to
him: II don't know enough about such
things to know why l don't Ike some
of the things YOU say to me, but, you
know. | think" This pretty and dainti
ly involved speech touched Casper, AMI
he remarked: Don't you believe, # I'm
at my best for the rest of the term,
you'll be able to forget?'
After this Casper and Mary became
thick as thieves, and the village watched
the acquaintance grow with breathless
| interest. Mary had 4 sister, a dreadful
! firt named Eva. who used to go to
skating Kinks. On one occasion she rec
ognzed somebody there and decided
suddenly to let him think that she was
/ picking him up" How shocking! Can
| 1t be possible that a feminine novelist
of Boston-of refined Bawstun-could
stoop to use such a slummy expression
as picking up" F.e. Ethel. fle! Eva
was such bad lot that she went upon
the stage, and the "authoress" is able
to air her teeming. luminous knowledge
OF the world behind the footlights.
The subtlest danger of the stage"
says this Laura Jean Libbey. OF Boston,
"is that the actors so often form the
habit of playing a part when of the
boards. The carefully acquired move
ments and expressions of coquetry
which have been cultivated to charm
and please an audience become so spicy
an accompaniment to conversation that
little by little,s the tone creeps nto al.
most all the intercourse between the
men and women Of that profession. The
love-making of the stage has not neces.
sarily been inspired with personal pas.
sion personal passion Is good wher
1t has stirred the admiration OF the
audience" Miss Davis, 1t will be seen
t has very abstruse views of the stage
1t corrupts Eva. She makes violent love
to Casper. who really belongs to the lad!
with the blurred eye. after which sh
marries Herr Schmidt. he having Sc
: cured a divorce in order to be hers.
Poor Mary is left with her eye and al
incessant lamentation. She never mar
ries. and a New England village Rossil
sums uD the situation thus: There
one woman lest wore out cause she
got more children n she can look on
fer, and tn other all broke down 'caus
she amt got any and don't expec' to
. hev. an is Jest pinin' fer er chanc
ter know she's some count In tn
world" when Love Is Done Is ar
rant trash. Messrs. Estes & LAURA
must have money to burn II they ca
invest 1t in such common and slovenl
drivel. ALAN DALE.