The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1897-08-29

talents or abilities and shipwreek them
on a desolate coast where they discover
a treasure worth $500 900 600 and make not
only an entertaining and delightful story
out of 1t. but perfectly plausible one as
WELL
This Mr.. Stockton did in 1.-THE Adven-
lures of Captain Horn" a lengthy book
and something of new departure for
this popular author. He plunged right
into his story by shipwrecking the whole
party on the coast of Peru. There in an
elaborate cleft they found. as a para
graphist suggests, like Chinese boxes. a
series of caves and in the nmost cave
lake, and under the lake a mound, and
within the mound the fabulous treas
In writing treasure = ana Rnhef:
Louis Stevenson drew map to go with
the story, which was one of the most re-
markable feats of the book, aud we cam
easily see Mr.. Stockton sitting down and
constructing a working model apparatus
for concealing and guardaing this Pc
ruvian treasure. so deliberately is the
machinery described. BY the way. the
lamented Stevenson was an ardent ad-
mirer of Mr. stockton's. and it is said
that when Mr.. Gosse came to America
to lecture he was requested by Steven
son to lay at the feet of Mr. Stockton his
homage couched in the following lines:
my Stockton If I failed to like,
1t were a sheer depravity;
For went down with the Thomas Hyke'
And up with the Negative Gravity
He adored these tales of Mr.. Stock
toms.
Captain Horn, his face red with ex-
ertion and excitement, stoed gazing down
into the square aperture at his feet On
the other edge of the opening knelt Ralph
holding lantern SO that it would throw
"a light into the hole. In a moment,
before the boy had time to form ques-
ton, he was pushed to one side, and his
sister Edna, who had clambcrod up the
side of the mound, knelt beside him.
Then there came a voice from below
What is it,? cried Mrs. Cliff; what are
you all looking at? Do tell mel! = I
thought it was--t is gold! 1t is the gold
of the Incasp And then she sank sense
less at the feet of the older woman."
1t Is this Mrs. Cliff, plain New Eng
land woman who is so perceptibly over
come by the sight of the enormous treas
ure, who forms the ground work of an
other lengthy and very delightful novel.
The fabulous treasure was divided among
the shipwreclsed discoveries and in mrs
Cliffs Yacht" we are transplanted to the
quiet. homely Village of Plaintown, Me-,
and there read of this most estimable la
dy'saeonflict between her plain, unassum-
Ing integrity7of character, and the ac-
cumulative demands of her enormous
wealth. II you feel depressed and held
in the clutches of the "blue devils you
just read Mrs. Cliffs Yacht and see how
soon you will laugh in spite of yourself,
and laugh again end again, until the geo
humor and caprice os the book Becomes
contagious and you lay it aside with
your temper not only sweetened, but
your whole nature strength sned for life's
many conflicts.
Stepniac, in his introduction TO Rus
sian Humor." says:
1.-THE smile is the most characteristic
trait of the human face. We really do not
know what face is like until we have
seen it smiling. Now. with a nation. its
humor is what smile is with an individ-
ual."
You'll find 1t true.
There is no more truly characteristic
American writer living today than
Frank r. Stockton. He is held in pecu-
liar esteem by the English, and Mr.. A.
IT. Quiller-Couch, a writ=r of renown
and a bright essayist as we'll, says of
him: AS far as can be guessed, the
general disposition is to regard him as
an amusing kind of 'cuss,' with a queer
kink in his fancy, who writes puzzling
little stories that make You SMILE -
And yet tn: Sc stories are almost cias-
sizes. That is to say, they have the clas-
steal qualities and orly need time to ri
pen them into classics, for nothing but
age divides story OF the quality of
The Lady or the Tigcr?' uor instance)
from story of the quality of Rip Van
Winkle.' . = In fact. they seem to me
about the most genuinely American
things In American fiction. So The Bit
terest critic of things American will not
deny that Mr.. Stockton's characters are
typical Anne ricans and could not belong
to any othsr ma ton in the world"
Yes. he not only writ=s good. stirring
stories, but equal to his reputation in
this line is that of a hunlorist.
His stories are invariably based upon
some extraordinary conjuncture of cir
cumstances; for Mr.. Stockton is nothing
IL not fanciful; but their fanciful postu-
lates being grtnted.sthey arr absolute
ly rational. He dedaces his stories log
ically and precisely, and his accuracy of
detail is part of the common-sense char
actcr of the narratives. His characters
ar. even more original thar the machin-
cry of his stories, and, while typical