The times., 1898-11-20

deep. And know of no instance which impresses
the ordinary observer much at sight as the
first time when, wandering accidentally through
| some peaceful copee or wood, he finds himself
face to face with that hateful hoard, butcher
birds larder.
Cnattractive though his subjects may
be, Grant Aliens style has always fas-
| cination of its own, and in reading him
| one feels as II possessed of mental mi
| croscope, SO many hidden things he
brings to light. The present book is one
which every naturalist, particularly ev-
cry amateur naturalist, should own.
| New York: Doubleday & Mcclure Com
pany)
"Armageddon," by Stanley Waterloo.
| deals with that hackneyed old idea, the
possibilities of the airship In future war
| of all nations. No less than dozen per-
sons OF various degrees of ability have
described that airship sailing high among
the clouds and dropping dynamite bombs
| among n terrified people. The most sue
cessful In this line of prophecy, perhaps,
| was Ignatius Donnelly In Caesars Col
| umn." His soInber imagination found
| a field well adapted TO itself In the de-
scription of a mysterious, bat-like aerial
| ship laden with death-dealing instru-
ments.
| The universal war idea Is also an old
one, and has some reason for its being.
| Existing international conditions make
such war possible, If not probable. And
| the trick of throwing the time of the
| story forward into the coming century is
Oldest of all. Mr.. Waterloo has not dis
| played any great originality or common
sense in the choice of his subject. nor
has he treated it with any remarkable
| skill. In fact, almost the only really
| striking thing about the book is its cover
| The outcome of the battle which gives
name TO the story is an Anglo-American
alliance, with Japan as an Oriental aid,
against the Slav and the Latin. (Chica-
go: Rand, McNally & Coz
| Octave Thanet's new book, which she
has cleverly called "a Slave to Duty and
Other Women, is a book of, for and
| about women. There are five stories.
wrought out with the careful art which
we have become accustomed TO ind in
the work of Miss French. She is perhaps
at her best in dealing with the labor prob
| lem as 1t exists In that Utopian town of
| the Middle West, cared for by the Loss
ings, in which most of her scenes have
been laid. But the present book is quite
readable Possibly the best of the stories
| is the last "On the Blank Side of the
| Wall" which has a denouement more
dramatic and effective than is usual in
! the work of this author. Like so much
| of our recent fiction, II has a mystical
| tinge, and ventures over the line that di-
| vides this world and the next The mys-
ticism is purely hypothetical, however,
and the reader may believe or not, as he
| likes. Chicago: Herbert S. Stone & Coz
Rose Charlitte," by Marshall Saun-
ders. is piquant, fresh and delightful ro-
nance of type somewhat new in fic-
| ton. The Acadians of Louisiana have
been brought to our libraries by George
/ w Gable; the Acadians of colonial days
We're immortalized in 'Evangeline.' but
/ this Is the first attempt 20 portray the
/ Nova Scotia Acadian of today. The her
I oine called Rose a Charlitte, to distin-
guish her from several other danes sur
named du FOret, is a pretty widow who
keeps an inn at place called by the
! picturesque name of Sleeping Water.
/ Thither wends slightly blase, cynical
/ and erratic young man. called Vesper
Nimmo. In the first chapters of the book
| 1t is discovered that an ancestor of this
! youth, in a fit of rage, killed an Acadi-
an named lie NOR. and the murdered
man. dying, breathed a curse on the fami-
! ly OF his slayer. This is sufficiently
! picturesque suggestion for a Hawthorne
novel; but the effect It has young
yesper is to send him on a somewhat
quixotic hunt through Nova Scotia for
the descendants of lie Noir. that he may
! make reparation. When he meets Rose
Charlitte. the loye-story begins. For
the benefit Of sensitive readers it may be
/ well to add that it ends happily. Boston:
| l.. C. Page & Coz
| Hester Stanley's Friends by Harriet
Prescott Spoford, is n book for young
folk, containing number of rather pret-
ty but not very realistic stories. 1t is
certainly below the standard of the au-
thor's previous work. Boston: Little,
Brown & Coz