The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-01-10

of the picturesque. Those of the stories
which are not as good as the best, fail
chiefly because they are pitched in too
high a key. The tragedy is too I'M
relieved, too tense.
The title story of the volume relates
the adventures of the Pinson family.
who travelled thirty miles to go to the
circus, only to have Pinson here gam
BILE away their ticket money after ar
irving on the grounds Thereupon
they turned homeward, having seen
nothing save an elephants track in the
dust. This story and the account of
Mr.. Benjamin Franklin Fishs ball
could hardly be improved in subject
or manner. They are humorous. tender.
sympathetic. If Mrs. Davis will but
give us a whole volume of such there
could be no doubt as to their welcome.
can Elephants Track" by NJ. E. NJ. Davis.
Harper & Bros. $3.50. For sale by the St
Paul Book and Stationery company
"Opals From a Mexican Mine" is the
title Of a volume Of very we'll written
stories which yet have no adequate ex-
cuse for existing. The Mexican setting
of the tales is novel and sufficiently
interesting, but the stories themselves
are weak and worthless They show
absolutely no knowledge of the human
heart and no grip on any of the con-
trolling influences of life, save an in
coherent and spaSmOdic passion. The
writer could have made a far better
book of the material at his hand had
the tales been the expression Of a
more rugged personality, which is the
same thing as saying that a different
book would have been a better one
C"Opals From a Mexican Mine" by George
de VALERIE New York. The New Amster-
dam Book company. $1.25)
'Tommy-An'ne and the Three
Hearts is nature-book for children
by Mrs. Mabel Osgood Wright. whose
books for grown people, The Friend
ship Of Nature and ''Birdcraft," have
been greatly liked by lovers of the
literature of out-of-doors. Tommy
Anne, whose real name is Diana, is a
little girl who wants to know the
why" of things. After she has once
learned the language of birds and
beasts and growing things, they tell
her about themselves, and she learns
vast number of interesting and ac-
curate facts, as wei. as a great many
pretty legends The book is calculated
to interest children In out-of-d door
things, and to answer great many of
the questions to which their parents
might find it convenient to respond on
the spur Of the moment
c"TommyAnne and the Three Hearts" by
Mabel Osgood Wright. The Macmillan com
pany. 81 so. For sale by the st. Paul Book
and Stationery company
1.-THE Scrape That Jack Built is a
lively and entertaining story for young
people. 1t is, indeed, a, trif1e too lively.
The writer seems afraid of making her
children prigs, and runs to the other
extreme. AS result the characters
are rather slangy and unduly efferves-
cent, in a way that is less pleasant in
literature than in life. 1t may be that
Jack and Perry and Dorothy and the
rest are as well-bred and well-behaved
as the young people of this generation
ever are. but if SO the fact reflects upon
this generation.
c'The Scrape That Jack Built" by OttiIie
A. LilienkraDtz. A. c. McLurg Co. $125)
If the literary journals had not told
us that Mrs. Hugh Fraser was Mr.. r.
Marion Crawfords sister, the discern