Birmingham state herald., 1896-04-19

with other phases of life as it exists, and in "The Temptress' we have one of those characters which causes much of the misery and suffering, as well as the ex- citement and crime, which burden hu- manity. It would be difficult to give even an idea of the story. The action is SO rapid and incident follows so fast and furious upon incident that the mind and attention of the read CT Is enthralled, and, in a manner, even fascinated, by the coolness, dexterity and depravity of some of the characters. Jack Egerton and Hugh Trethowens are real charac- ters and splendid creations, and they, with Dolly, form a most fitting and pie turesquely virtuous background for as grand a set of knaves as were ever de-
 picted in fiction. Upon closing the book the mind of the reader aches in trying to grasp and remember the enormity of
 crime committed by the rascals from the bewitching "temptress" on through the list of the varied assortment of accom- plices.
 If you enjoy and like the sensational in fiction you will find "The Temptress" ln- teresting reading. The authors fertility of imagination and vigor of action, to- gether with the sprightly and crisp mar
 rative, make the work interesting, while the brisk conversations do not fail to hold the attention of the reader from the first to the last page
 (Frederick A. Stokes company; for sale by Smith & Montgomery.)
 
 When a helpless child has been named
 "Mehetabef' one feels that she has been
 cheated of her fair start in the world, and yet this is the name MT. s. Barring Gould gives his heroine In his latest sto- ry, "The Broom-Squire. The first part of the work is something of a staggerer, as MT. Swiveller used to say, but after one plunges through the few opening pages the author leads us into quiet, well-told tale of the district of Thursby,
 situated on the high road which runs to London.
 Near the inn of Thursby was boggy bottom from which oozing springs in the course of vast ages had undermined and washed away the superincumbent sand and had formed the crater called the Devils Punch Bowl. Squatters in this quaint locality had added to their earnings the profits of trade they mo- nopoized-that of making and selling brooms-and hence 1t was that Jonas Kink commonly known as Bideabout, was also called "The Broom-Squire, and if you are an excitable or sympathetic reader you'll be sure to wish broom
 handle had been used on him a time or two before the story ends There is love-
 making and giving in marriage and re-
 grets and mistakes after the usual man. ner of tales of fiction. The common place and exceedingly wearisome life Of
 Mehetabel would prove dry reading were
 it not written by the author with con
 scientiousness and pains, making the text
 attractive and interesting by its simplic-
 ity, sincerity, vividness and strength
 English writers have looked about for
 queer, unusual types in some of their
 latter-day stories, and Jonas will sus-
 tain the epithet of "curious creation;"
 and yet Iver comes in for share of the
 anomalous. when, after pages of prepara-
 tion, the reader awaits Iver's proposal
 to Mehetabel, he cooly announces his
 intention of marrying Miss Polly Colpus,
 thereby spelling what, otherwise,
 would have been a cleverly told tale.
 But who can tell how the readers sym
 pathies will go? and, barring this item,
 the story is an unusually good one, and
 calculated to please large class of read
 CTS. Frederick A. Stokes company; for
 sale by Smith & Montgomery)