The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1896-12-09
A LESSON IN fiction.
How to Get on to the Curves Of the NO.
ern Novel.

Suppose that in the opening pages Of the
modern melodramatic novel you find some
sach situation as the following, in which
is depicted the terrific com bat between
Gaspard de Vaux. the boy lieutenant. and
Hairy Hank, the chief of the Italian ban
ditti:
1.-THE inequality Of the contest was ap-
parent With a mingled yell of rage and
contempt his sword brandished above his
head and his dirk between his teeth, the
enormous bandit rushed upon his intrepid
opponent. De Vaux seemed scarce more
than a STRIPPING, but he stood his ground
and faced his hitherto invincible assailant.
'Mong Dieur cried De Smyths. He is
lostP
Question On which Of the parties to
the above contest do you honestly feel in
clined to put your money!
Answer.-On De Vaux. He'll win.
Hairy Hank will force him down to one
knee and with brutal cry Of ''Har, harE''
viii be about to dirk him, when De Vaux
will make a sudden Iunge, one he had
learned at home out of book Of lunges,
and
Very good You have answered correct
y. Now, suppose you find, q little later
in the book, that the killing Of Hairy
Hank has compelled De Vaux to flee from
his native land to the east. Are you not
fearful for his safety in the desert2
A.-Frankly, I am not De Vaux is all
right. His name is on the title page, and
you can't kill him.
Q.-Listen to this, then: "The sun of
Ethiopia beat fiercely upon the desert as
De Vaux, mounted upon his faithful ele-
phant, pursued his lonely way. Seated in
his lofty hoodoo, his eye scored the waste.
Suddenly d solitary horseman appeared on
the horizon Then another and another
and then six. IN a few moments whole
crowd of solitary horsemen swooped down
upon him. There was a fierce shout of
Allah a rattle of firearms. De Vaux
sank from his hoodoo on to the sands,
while the ahrighted elephant dashed of in
all directions. The bullet had struck him
in the heart -
There, now, what do you think of that?
Isn't De Vaux killed now?
Al am sorry. De Vaux is not dead.
True, the ball had hit him-oh, yes, it had
hit him-but it had glanced off against
family Bible which he carried in his waist
coat in case of illness, struck some hymns
that he had in his hip pocket, and, glane-
ing off again, had flattened itself against
De Vaux S diary of his life in the desert,
which was in his knapsack.
Q.-But even if this doesn't kill hiT4,
you must admit that he is near death when
he is bitten in the jungle by the deadly
dOngola?
A.-That's all right. A kindly Arab
will take De Vaux to the sheik' tent.
Q.-What will De Vaux remind the
sheik off
A.-Too easy. Of his long lost son, who
disappeared years ago.
Q.-Was this son Hairy Hank?
A.-Of course he was. Any one could
see that, but the sheik never suspects it
n
an herb, a thing called a simple, an amaz-
ingly simple, known only to the sheik.
Since using this herb the sheik has used
no other.
Q.-The sheik will recognize an over
coat that De Vaux is wearing. and com
plications will arise in the matter of Hairy
Hank deceased VIII this result in the
death of the boy lieutenant
A.-No. By this time De Vaux has real
ICED that the reader knows he won't die
and resolves to quit the desert. The thought
of his mother keeps recurring to him, and
of his father, too; the gray, STOPPING old
man-does be stoop still, or has he stopped
stooping2 At times, too, there comes the
thought Of another, fairer than his father,
she whose-but enough, De Vauz returns
to the old homestead in PicCadilly.
Q.-When De Vaux returns to England,
what viii happens
A.-This viii happen: "He who left
England ten years before, a raw boy, has
returned a sunburnt, soldierly man But
who is this that advances smiIingly to meet
him2 Can the mere girl the bright child
that shared his hours Of play, can she have
grown into this peerless, graceful girl, at
whose feet half the noble suitors Of Eng
land are kneeling9 Can this be hers' he
asks himself in amazement.
O-Is it her?
A-Oh, it's her all right 1t is her, and
IL hi i- hal virI has
waited so pages for nothing
Q.-You evidently guess that a love
affair will ensue between the boy lieutenant
and the peerless girl with the broad feet.
Do you imagine, however, that its course
viii run smoothly and leave nothing to
recorda
A-Not at all. feel certain that the
scene of the novel having edged itself
around TO London, the writer will not feel
satisfied unless he introd uces the following
famous scene:
Stunned by the cruel revelation which
he had received, unconscious of whittier his
steps were taking him. Gaspard de Vaux
wandered on in the darkness from street
to street until he found himself upon Lon
don bridge. He loaned over the parapet
and looked down upon the Whirling stream
below. There was something in the still,
swift rush Of it that seemed to beckon, to
allure, him. After all, why not2 What
was life now that he should prize its For
a moment De Naux paused irresolube. "
Own he throw himself in2
A-Well, say you don't know Gaspard.
He viii pausa irresolute up to the limit;
then. with a fierce struggle, will recall his
courage and hasten from the bridge.
Q.-This struggle not to throw oneself
in must be dreadfully difdcult9
A-Ob, dreadfuuyl Most Of US are so
frail we should jump in at once. But
Gaspard has the kDack of it Besides he
still has some of the sheik's herb. He
chews it.
Q-What has happened to De Vaux
anyway? Is it anything he has eaten2
A-No, it is nothing that be has eaten.
It's about Ter The blew has come She