The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-04-11
AN ARMFUL OF NOVELS.

u
York: d. Appleton & Coz he has given
US a Celtic Chimmie Fadden. with
something more than the American
Chimnies proficiency in slang. proIR-
ness to mischief and expertness in the
tricks of slumdom, and perhaps. too,
| with finer vein OF underlying charac-
ter, when once 1t Is fairly reached,
ter. when once 1t Is faiFlyreached. Cleg's
father Is a burglar: his mother. while
she lives-which, owing to husbandly
abuse. insufficient food and general
misery. lint Tonga patient, long-suf-
fering, deceived woman, ana his daily
companions the leather-lunged bipedal
terriers and toughs Of the seamy por-
tion Of modern Edinburgh. Reared in
such an environment one would nat
urally expect Cleg Kelly to go quickly
to the prison or the gallows. That is
probably what Mr.. James. otherwise
known to the scholars Of Hunker court
Sunday school. over which he presided.
as "Pund O. Cannles" Lugton, thought
when one Sunday Cleg. In response to
some conventional religious instruc-
ton, blurted out: IT'S all dumb lie
Gods dead" And for a time Cleg
gave high promise Of fulfilling this
matter-Of-course destiny. especially af-
ter he had found out what a worthless
I.
He confOunded the probabilities by de-
veloping. with much Intervening wealth
OF amusing circumstances. into a first
rate citizen, pranky and fun.loving to
the last. but at bottom as true and as
sound as gold. In the depicting of this
character, and Of the host of other per-
sons, good, bad and indifferent, who
figure from time to time In the books
four hundred pages. Mr. Crockett has
revealed anew his superb sense Of hui
NOR, his grasp upon humanity and his
freedom from time-honored tranimels.
The reader who takes up this novel
must not expect to read anything re-
sembling anything else In the whole
realm Of fiction: but he must expect
to keep the book before him until he
shall have exhausted the very last
page. for there's no laying 1t down un-
finished
We have received from Dodd. Mead
y Co., New York. copy OF "Dedora
Haywood by Gertrude Smith, which IL
so well reviewed IN the New York Tri-
pune that we cannot do better than to
copy what that journal says. It speaks
or Miss Smiths little story--there are
only $4,000 words TO It, all told-as a
portrayal Of the tragic consequences
OF unorthodoxy In small New Eng
land town." and continues: :, :,
Socially speaking. fate did not smile on
Dedora from the time she returned to her
native village after six months visit
to the city. The city had had its effect
on her manner Of dress, but more particu-
iarly It left its mark on her religious be-
ile,s, RaM, Formerly tnai % she held With Brother
ly as the avenger, as the God Of condem-
nation and anger When she returned
from the city she scandalized the minis
ter by asserting that she had suffered a
change OF heart, In consequence OF which
she was forced to deny that the concep-
ton Of the Almighty as the God OF Love
admitted the idea Of the power Of evil. "You
have become universalist." observes
not deny the charge. The social
complications to which this change
Of faith lead, are sketched by
Miss Smith with considerable skill and
ready occupied by Miss wilkins. The
romantic element Is supplied in the person
Of one David, a transcendental dreamer,
spring flowers and nature generally. He
has wanted to marry Dedora for 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 Dedoras change Of heart.
then David iSSes hiss life BY falling
through a hole In the Ice. AS sequel
to his unforeseen catastrophe, Ded9ra
goes to live In his old house. and de-
votes her life to deeds Of charity.
Il II II
"A Chord from Violin by Winfred
Agnes Haldane Chicago. Laird & Lee)
is the autobiography Of rare old in
strument, passing from the hands Of Its
maker and owner only when, he being
near to death, his daughter sold 1t (the
last Of many to buy him bread. Hes
ter, the daughter, Is taken into the
house Of the man who bought the vio-
lin. Her voice is trained and she be-
comes a great singer. Some years af-
nizes the famous old violin In the or
chestra--the property of poor young
man. That recognition leads to pa
thetic little romance, In the working
out Of which the author exhibits DELI
cacy Of sentiment and fine appreciation
of the emotional complexities of the
feminine nature. The sketch Is slight.
but artistic.
The novels Of George Ebers, as trans
lated into English. impress one as hav-
ing a good bit Of inherited TeutoniC
roughness, but In that characteristic
|
true to their subjects and to their en-
vironment I'm the Blue Pike" which
the subtitle informs us Is romance
. Of German civilization at the COM
mencement OF the Sixteenth century u
is not an exception to this rule. The
tone of 1t Is harsh; the colors are dark
and forbidding. and the end comes In
tragedy: but for all that the authors
study of life and manners of this period
in point Is skilful and informing. The
Appletons publish the book in paper
covers at 40 cents: the translation Is
by Mary ]. Stafford.
Il Il Il
The author of Views Of English So.
ciety" has chosen for the theme of hel
latest work. small novel called I'm O
Silent World" New York; Dodd, Mead
& Coz the introspection Of soul pent
up. Drison-like between the walls Of q
great afliiction, that Of deafness and
muteness. The heroine writes touch.
ingly in the first person singular. ana
puts down with that acute frankness
inevitable when condolences have only
one vent of expression, the pen, the
story Of her simple love. which ends
sadly enough and yet withal logically
in sacrificial death. The experiment Ii
a new one in fiction. but exhibits grea,
: fidelity to its subjec. and Is in thai
sense. If in no other, highly success.
; full
Among the manuscripts left at death
by William H. Thomes of Boston wa.
an unpublished collection Of rollickine
! tales and adventures entitled "Ocpa r