The Portland daily press., 1895-09-09


character in the book thinks this with
sufficient ardor OF con viction to yield to
the destinations of the Sphinx aud to lose
all touch with his own ma tural environ
ment. The descriptions of the desert, OF
Cairo by night, of the Howling Dervlshes
are fine but as a work of the Imagination,
portraying the workings Of a hyper-im-
aginative mind, we conclude that it Will
not appeal to those severely practical by
| nature. The descriptions given OF the
English lad, sick unto death, are so real1s-
tic as to be most repelling in their effect.
| We note the following for paragraph OF
condensed English.
"When they came out from lunch into
the sun, a huge party Of personally con-
Quoted tourists were making for the Great
Pyramid in a shouting procession, ana
the Denisons perched upon donkeys, and
attended by an ostentatious suite OF ex-
planatory Arabs, followed in its wake at
an uneasy trot.' And this is finely sug'
gestive: "She moved because there was
divine restlessness within her, not because
she saw her neighbors trotting along ana
was afraid of being left behind. - "Of
quite another personality-Enid was sell
dom logical in her mental processes, and
moreover, the conclusions to which she
leapt were quite rs often wrong as right.
Frequent discovery of this fact, however,
did not check her ill-advised agility, and
she still felt it her duty to trust implicitly
in what she called her munitions. y
An Imaginative Man is by no means as
effective or telling story as one feels it
ought by right of cleverness to be. New
York: D. Appleton & Company; Port
land: Loring, Short & Harmon. Price
sL25.)
| My Lady Nobody A Novel by Maarten
Martens, author of Gods Fool, etc. Illus
trated. There are several interesting
points to be noted in reviewing this re-
cent work of Mr.. Maarten Martens. The
author is Hollander and yet he writes
his stories in English, from which tongue
they have been translated into Dutch and
German. He prefers English for the
| lighter forms of literature as being more
flexible and .nimbler language for the
Avelengh, his first novel, he brought out
at his own risk his later books have been
published by Bentley. They have all met
with marked success and have COM
manded wide reading. My Lady No
body is unlike the modern novel of the
end -the-century type, in that it is in
the main objective in tone and though it
of<1 10
and beautiful woman does it by other
than the interpretive, analytic method
That is to say the psychioal phases of life
are treated only as they naturally devel-
ope alongside the active conditions of Eek
istence. A new social light is thrown
upon the Dutch; and their charm and
grace are quite a revelation to those of us
who have incorrectly gathered our impress
sions OF them heretofore by a dull history
or bit of caricature The complications
attending an inheritance as 1T concerns
an old family of noble birth are sufficient
| to make the independent American re-
joice in his comparative freedom. Now
and then incidents occur which are a
little farcical-not our idea of proportion;
the author seems not quite cognizant
| of the limits Of burlesque. But the main
current flows on with strength and depth.
1t is a fine story. If sometimes more
outspoken than our canons of taste ap-
prove, it's general influence is unerringly
| for the good and the true.
While My Lady Nobody is a romance
an out and out story and nothing less-it
| is impossible to overlook the epigramatic
utterances which spring up naturally
throughout the text. Says the Baron, 1T is
most irritating to have to say allone's good
things to an audience one-half of which
half of which is ones wife, fNature
had provided her with tendency to
nervous headaches which kindly fostering
had developed into vocation. - "The
Domino had penshioner who caused
him more annoyance than the rest. This
sheep of the flock was, however, not a
black sheep. 1t was serenely white 1t
never wandered, for it never got up. Its
name was Klomp, and it's nature was
unmitigated Incidence - Mon Dieu,
madame, lie marriage nest pas l'amourP
taking the name of three holy things in
vain within one short sentence, after the
manner of her race" If Red Riding
hood had said to the wolf, "What fine
teeth you have! instead of What big
ones 7 he would probably have abandoned
his intention Of eating her." New York
Harper & Brothers; Portland: Loring
Short & Harmon. Price $1.75.)
In The Fire of the Forge. A Romance
of Old Nuremburg, by George Ebers, au-
thor of Uarda, An Egyptian Princess, etc.
Translated from the German by Mary j.
Stafford. In two volumes. This romance
Of the thirteenth century is as quaint and
stately as harmony with its period de-
mands 1t is beautifully written and is
an interesting story. History, manner
and customs; partician folk as engaged in
commerce or mercantile pursuits, even
when mobiles and knighted, and an ear
nest love story are the essentials of the
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