The herald., 1896-05-03
l@00l<S ANp NI27I4 T7I4osE!::'TlH|EM
N U 80, WNHu N1Al(E v e7se'~
EDITED BY ENOcH KNIGHT

force of the recitals herein given, and
the reader who has gone through stan
ley Weyman's recent books will have
fine chance here to pass upon the rela-
tive interest of this novel and the best
of his.
PIRATE GOLD. By F. ]. stimson q.
$. of Dale). Houghton, Mifflin &
Co., Boston.
This is veritable story about some
pirate gold that mysteriously came to
Boston in the early part of the present
century. and is divided into three parts,
Discovery, Robbery and Recovery. 1t
begins with Old Boston and ends with
those terrible days when Anthony
Burns, the fugitive slave, was taken
back to slavery despite all the abolition
lists could do to save him--those days
that We're the beginning of the end of
the frrespresslble conflict between free
dom and serfdom.
The portrayal of James Bowdoin, the
merchant banker, and Jamie Murtagh,
the old clerI could hardly be better,
while Mercedes. the child of the pirate
captain, around whom the story con-
stantly circles, is a clearly drawn and
very real charact
There are points in the early portions
of the story when the reader feels that
somehow the construction Is bungling
and faulty, but further along towards
the end the action Is even and consist
ent and the whole ends with real eff
fectiVenesS. 1t is a wholesome story,
full of incident and rich in material.
The closing scenes that picture the
struggles of Jamie Murtagh to recover
the adopted child, whom he had SO loved
and suffered for, are full of genuine
pathos. In short. Pirate Gold is one of
the clean, strong stories that one loves
to commend to everybody and especial
w I'm all rra6nr- who 70
the traces of old New England in it,
LEES VEST POCKET POINTERS.
Laird & Lee, Chicago
one of the most ingenious and valua-
bic pocket cyclopedas conceivable is
here produced. 1t is a handsome little
volume. literally fitting the vest pocket
and contains 10000 facts of great i'm
portance, being the prominent events of
history. areas and populations of coun-
tries and cities, etc. 1t is a miniature
cyclopedia of information. In morocco.
80 cents; in cloth, % cents. 1t will find
q large sale.
CHRONICLES OF MARTIN HEWITT.
By Arthur Morrison, author of Mean
Streets, etc. Appleton & Co.
This volume is No. 191 in Town and
Country Library series, and in hand
some paper cover uniform with the rest
Inc contents comprise The Ivy Cot
tage Mystery. The Nicobar Bulletin
Case, The Holcomb Will Case, The Mis-
sing Hand, The Case of Laker, Abscond-
ed, and The Case of the Lost Foreigner
These are strange detective stories
from the heart of London and we'll and
skilfully told Nothing better of their
kind can be had in any literary market
outside of the few that have become
classic.
This series is nrovinp a wary, cuooas-
full one for the publishers.
AN ART FAILURE. BY John w Hard
ing and +. Tennyson Neely. For sale
by Stoll &s Thayer.
This is a stirring story of the Latin
quarter of Paris as it is today 1t is
handsome volume with profuse illus-
trations of capital kind
The story opens with an account of
scene in the Paradis des Almees, be-
ing enacted by the usual boisterous and
nondescript company assembled to cell
ebrate New Years eve The most of
the male actors in the nights drama
were admirers and followers of Ver-
laine. high priest of Decademsin and of
Mallarme-"men who wear long hair
and baggy trousers tight at the ankles,
declaim their own verse and court the
divine alfiatus in the absinthe and
books"
The most interesting figure of this thor
oughly live story is Charles Burroughs,
an American artist. There is rapid and
varied action in the book throughout
and the attention of the reader is held
to the end by the changing situations.
y q y
TOM GROGAN. BY F. Hopkinson
Smith. author of "A Gentleman
Vagabond," Colonel Carter of Car
tersville." etc. Beautifully printed and
n trt1 q oil .,,,%;-
Illustrated with nineteen designs
by {. 5. Reinhart. Crown Svo, 81. So
The easy and delightful spirit of fun
that ran through the earlier stories by
this author has changed in this one
into sturdier and more serious current
albeit fun is still lurking about and
often summoned in. We have in Tom
GroSan stronger theme and more Sc
rious mood than We're exhibited in
Colonel Carter of Gainesville or in A
Gentleman Vagabond. 1t Is a story with
purpose, a lesson and a moral. 1t
deals with rough men and threats, and
the brazen walking delegate. In a
word, 1t is a striking story of the day.
in which all the ability of true artist
is shown. 1t is more of a book than
Mr.. Smith has ever esssayed before,
ana Is broader and more notable sue
cess. In fact it is distinct advance
that puts the author into another class
and his works into a higher grade.
1t will not please everybody, but
but it is in most ways not only the best
work ever done by him, but it is one of
the great books of the year, as seems to
be agreed by the critics.
Among the notices of the book one
of the most appreciative and Just is
the following from the Outlook:
Mr.. Hopkinson Smiths latest story.
rom Grogan is distinctly the strongest
piece of work which has come from his
hand. 1t was read with growing inter-
est by q host of the readers of the Cen
tury Magazine, who felt it's vitality
and appreciated it's humor. 1t is a
study of local life under exciting condi-
tons, q chapter torn from the history
OF the labor agitation and the industri-
al revolution The writer's interest CEN
ters, not in the revolution or the agita
ton, but in the plucky, very human
woman who admirably fulfus the
duty of the heroine, and in the group
of men with whom she contends and
whose plots and antagonism she sue
cessfully meets. There are of course.
many other sides of the question which
has come to the front in this story.
Mr. Smith has seized one side, but he has
shown the characteristic quality of the
artist III Keeping the question subordin-
ate and the concrete fact to the front
he Is dealing with persons and incl
dents, not with distractions or with
general propositions. The peculiar
quality of the story is it's vitality. it's
hrst-hand portraiture of life. The men
ana women who figure in the tale are
drawn with few vigorous and sharnlv
denned strokes. Every one ia cIaarJyy