The Portland daily press., 1898-05-26

Id farmer, who has lived all his iiIe iH
the West. far from the sea that .Caieo
| loved so well'' But all the same the
picture is Caleb West himself. and under
Meath 1t the author his written: II amt
blamin' her nor never will"
There are two interesting books this
month from the publishing house OF
Messrs. Little & Brown; The one HAS
san; Fellah, A Romance of Palestine
by Henry Gilman, and the other "Ihe
Kings Henchman, A chronicle OF the
Sixteenth Century, brought to light ana
edited by William Henry johnson.
The first of these volumes sis dedicated
by permission, to the Right Honorable
William Evart Gladstone, e,-the Scholar
| the Statesman, The Orator"
The story is charming, and its Ian
guorous oriental atmosphere is illumined
by stirring incidents, and rich local color
ing. The author lived in Palestine for sew
| eral years and his mind evidently became
saturated with the peculiar characteris-
| tics of the inhabitants, the country, and
the romance and pioturesqueness of his
| surroundings. The descriptions of Jeru-
salem, and the pen portraits of the people
are wonderful, while the portions con-
nected with the "Thar' or blood-feud
between the Syrian village, and the in
surrection I'M Crete are of extraordinary
power and intensely dramatio. AT the
same time Mr.. Gilman has facts for all
his sensational Incidents. s@eesf
The volume is beautifully gotten up,
and is of unusual value and interest.
1.-The Kings Henohman - is story of
pure love and stirring action. 1t purports
to be told bysan attendant of King Henry
of Navarro, who does not stint his tales
of numberlessIi intrigues and love affairs.
as well as of the hundred tights and
skirmishs of that hero, who, with all his
faults was adored by numberless brave
men and fair women. The incidents.
alternately of love and war, follow each
other in rapid succession and the tale is
most brilliantly and cleverly told and is
entertaining and absorbing.
Says Jean Fourcade, the Kings Hench-
man: II shared my masters captivity
at the French Court being only too often
his unwilling attendant in the escapades
in which he indulged. ! fed with him
in 1916, when he took the field as the
leader of the Huguenot forces, and later
established his quarters ut Limoges with
o view to keeping his eyes on the
Estates-G Generai in session at Rlois."
And at Blois began the experiences re-
lated in the early chapters of this book.
The story carries the reader back to the
heart of the sixteenth century when
human life and the Ten Comman dments
were held in light esteem; crude, violent
age in which men Of action wore men of
blood; an age in which the passion of
men and women often ran wild riot,
unchecked by conventional restraint; an
age coarse in speech, when the biographer
of even the lovely and unfortunate Lady
Jane Gray felt obliged to apologize for
gross indelicacies in some of her letters.
And there are more new books of war
and battle. Mr. Robert Nelson Stephens
"The Continental Dragon" is really
brilliant and thrilling love story of
Philipse Manor House in IT'S The
author has been absolutely thorough and
careful in his historical researches, and
ample notes in the back of the volume
testify to the correctness of his dates and
facts, SO that the book has value be-.
yond Its interest as mere romance,
which is unusual One is not narrowed
by positively tragic ending, but it
leaves one in doubt as to the outcome of
that Legendary course of true love, which
is pity.
A good many years ago asked the late
Mr.. James r. Osgood what had become
of Mr.. Howellss delightful story tPri-
vate Theatricals" which after running
as Magazine Serial had been advertised
by his publishing house to appear in a
volume He replied that it was simply
this: "the ending was so unsatisfactory
that charming as was the tale, the sale of
the book would be entirely ruined by it..
However" said he, "Mr. Howells
writes me that he thinks he has hit upon
happy as well as artistic ending and
you may soon expect to receive the
volume. But that was long years ago,
and Private Theatricals'' has never ap-
peared except in the pages of the maya
zine.
Still another. army story is ''1he Sword
| of.the Pyramids" a clever tale of many
wars. The hero is an officer. of the Con-
federate Army who takes part in the war
| OF the Rebellion, and is afterward shot
with Macmillan in Mexico. 1t is a re-
vivai of the old story that Marshal Ney