New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-04-05
NEW NOVELS.
LOVE IN THE ANTIPODEs AND ELSE
WHERE.

TTON. BY Rolf BOldreWOOd. lZfnO PIP 3Do.
Macmillan & Co.
IN SEARCH OF QUIET. BY Walter FIRTH 12mo.
PIP 296 Harper e Brothers.
DEDORA HAYWOOD, BY Gertrude Smith lemo'
PIP 1872. Dodd Mead & Co.
ismo. DID. 1885, Charles scribner's Sons.
THE GOLD FISH OF GRAN CHIMU. BY. Charles
F. Lumm.s. l6mo. pp. lS Lamson' "oiHe q
Mr. Rolf Boldrewood's Australian romance. THE
Crooked Stick" Is correctly described by the hero,
Bertram Devereaux. as an opera OF the Wilder
ness" The story Is pitched in a key OF lyrical ex-
aggeration which Is audible in the first page. when
the blood red sun" sinks all too slowly. yet
angrily, into a crimson ocean" The reader stands
in the settlement OF Corindah-a pastoral desert
among dwel.ers long heart-sick with hope de-
ferred" and looking to the west he describes the orb
OF day. "a fiery porten receding Into the inferno
Of n vast connagraton." With all this 1t Is not
surprising learn that the heros heart Is burnt-
out volcano" that the heroine. Pollie was richly
endowed with all the attributes which combine to
form the restless, tameless, unsat.sfed man.
Among these endowments are voice of marvellous
richness and compass figure OF superiative grace
a spirit dauntless as mans. and wtha tender,
loving. sentimental as a woman's Pollie was cut
out for the great world. but fate placed her In
Australia Was born only for such fate?" she
exclaims with passion rs II possible that the great
Creator Of all things the Lord and Oliver OF Life.
made this complex. eager nature OF mine to wear
Itself out with aimless automatic movements or
frantic struggles against the prison bars OF Fate?
Pollle understands herself thoroughly but she was
deceived Ia Bertram Devereaux. the gentleman OF
fortune with the volcanic heart He dawns on her
horizon quite unexpectedly. and after decorous
number Of delays he proposes and Is accepted Then
It is that Pole learns that his heart is engaged in
England. II is really distressing TO think OF what
might have been her tate had It not been for the
timely arrival OF Harold Anterior. Polite had not
treated Harold properly in the earlier chapters, but
the difficulty Is circumvented and the curtain goes
down on the opera OF the wilderness to the sound
OF merry marriage bells
A surprise turks within the pages Of the novel
by Mr. Walter Firth. which he entities I'm Search OF
Quiet" II out that just as a man cannot
add to his stature by taking thought unto himself
fails to discover quiet when he goes forth
with malice prepense. TO ind 1t. Shortly after his
arrival at Thorpe the writer of the present narra-
tive discovers the Redan (the Berkeley Square OF
the place. and. medItating on its charms he ex-
claims: Life seems here creeper-covered and SUM-
berous. stagnant and yet evergreen as in bach
water: like river and like life. only without the
movement and the now" Guileess urban that he
was ne did not forsee that passion and complica-
ton are no strangers to the country. He came to
Thorpe In search OF quiet. He found in the idyllc
secluslon Of the Redan a human tragedy unfolding
Itself which. but for his highly developed worldly
wisdom and his thoroughly British Discrimination to
perml, himself to be excited about anything. might
have permanently destroyed his nerves. The au-
thor's mood and an occasional landscape are really
the only quiet things in the book IL is rich In
episodes which would have furnished forth the plot
OF n dozen ultra-sensaiional romanc.s. Mr.. Firth
f. anything but sensational however. He is re-
strained. gentle conemplative. sometimes even as
slumberous his beloved Redan.
The tragic consequences OF unorthodoxy in small
New England town provide the theme OF Miss Ger
trade Smiths lttle story. "Dedora Haywood" So
claIy speaking. fate did not smile on Dedora from
the time she returned to her native village after 4
six months visit TO the city. The city had had iis
effect on her manner OF dress. but more particularly
Il left It's mark on her religious beliefs. Former
ly abe he'd with Brother Bowen that God present
ed Himself chiefly as the avenger as the God or
condemnation and anger. When she returned from
the city she scandaiizcl the minister by asserting
that she had suffered change OF heart in conse-
qucnce OF which she forced to deny that the
conception OF the Almighty the God OF Love ad-
mi,ted the idea OF the power Of evil. you have
become a t'nversa.lst." observes Brother Bowen.
And Dcdcra denies the charge. The social complied
lions 70 which this chrnge OF faith lead are sketched
by Miss Smith with considerable skill and orig
nality despite the constant suggestion that she IS
encroaching ground already occupied by Miss
wilkins The romantic element is supplied in the per-
son OF one David. a transcendental dreamer. whose
religion IL a matter OF forests spring flowers and
nature generally. He has wanted to marry Dedora
for "A long while but she has steadily refused him
on the ground OF their differences In matters OF
religion The obstacle Is not entirely removed after
Dedora's change OF heart but a compromise Is
agreed upon and then David loses his life by fall
ing through hole In the ice. AS sequel TO this
unforeseen catastrophe. Dedora goes to live In his
old house. and dcvotes her life TO deeds Of charity
Mast pirif' 10 ali fn han
derstand. II lacks clarity. There are good cpl
grams graceful flights OF fancy. apprecative, even
penetrating things SAID about art. especially about
the art Of snging-but for all this the effect.
though brilliant. colored. is blur. This Is the
first impression received from Miss X. p. Sporords
story and with stories OF the kind to which It be-
longs It Is the first impression that counts. Such
being the case, there should be a little more def-
n.teness, less immensely OF windy sky" more
clear sunlight Gratian. the careless. impulsive.
pleasure loving lover, should be less eliish Ma
DANA the x-singer. should be less addicted TO
freakish dgressions In conversation: and above all,
II would be better II Domino (whose voice was a
paragon OF sensuous beauty with power to charm
the mad to slumbeD little more human.
The trio would be effective placed frankly
on the stage under the white light OF prose. than
as Mss Sporord has represented them playing
their mysterious drama behind n gauze drop In
the trembling moonlight. what does her rable
teach II Is hard to tell. Presumably that the
greatest art Is the child OF suffering. the express
sion OF life lived by the artist In Its entirety-and
that between this perfect expression and atless In
nocence when sings as Domino sang and
danced Mt the dictates OF an inner harmony OF
soul there Is a stretch OF arid. selfish passion.
when the artistic impulse seems parched and dry.
Then comes suffering. as 1t came to Domino In
her lovers death. and the desert again blooms like
the rose
The quest of hidden treasure. and the adventures
which befail those who are searching Is the theme
of Mr. Charles f. Lummiss story The Gold Fish
OF Gran Chimu." The scene is laid in Peru. and the
matter OF the tale rests legend which Is TO the
effect that Atahualpa being a prisoner his captor
Cajamarco agreed to release him upon his filing
a certain room with treasure This the wal chief
a.sanicd u hut q his mesaeuRera hrl,igiu g