The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-11-26
VIEW BOOKS
p,,cf Reviews OF Important and Interesting
New Publlcations.

New
70 Ue remember rightly Il 10 Mr.. lie Galllenne
tho has told us that we are never safe from
rom.noe. but that she turks continually In un-
.~noct.d p,aces. And now comes Mr.. Charles
polmont Davis with q series Of short and Sim
rIo stories issued under the title, The Border
,anS Of Society" tStonel. TO prove that the
,rn,sm IA actually true. Those careless. casual
norsons who think OF romance as successfully as-
,ociated with point lace and diamonds, waving
,c;nmes and 6iAshinG swords, and all that kind
a thing, might never have known OF the
nossibllitles Of pathos and chivalrv and simple
hsroism that Turk in the u~ninviting atmos-
phere OF the dime museum. and might never
have dreamt OF the things Of which a freak
IA capable. had II not been for the dlsinterested
eForts OF Mr.. Davis. In ono ofthese Ingenious
tales. Tho Freaks Midsummer Nights
Dream," this author tells the story Of a loyal
living skeleton. q gay and innocent young
female snake charmer and an utterly con-
tsmptlble strong man. Young Hobart Peck
ham was the living skeleton. and.
though he measured but about eighteen
inches round the chest, he had q great.
hIu heart Whatever surgeons and scientific
parsons may have said as to the merely physio-
iorcal situation OF that necessary organ his
conduct proved that. metaphorically. at least,
hs great big heart was In the right place. He
Ioved young Maobi. the fair but tickle female
make charmer. and loved her 30 devotedly
FRAT on one occasion. when looking at her. he
became peculiarly conscious. and O light pink
dush gradually rose up from under his collar
and dlfused itself over his tightly drawn yellow
face" It Is but fair to say that this light
mink flush was partly due to Hobart Peckham's
dlsapproval OF certain ribald remarks let fall by
Abe Lowell. who had neither arms nor legs, but
Who earned S25 o week by cutting out little
wooden anchors with q penknife. At frst the
living skeletons love was u~nreduited. and. fas-
einsted by the figure Of the strong man and.
woman-like. ignoring the obvious fact that the
iron balls he juggled with,were hollow and not
as heavy as the gentle public thought them, the
Ickle snake charmer cast the eye OF affection
mon this sorry hero and left u Hobart
reckham to the tender mercies Of the leg
less man. This PHILOSOPHERS reflections
on the marital misadventures Of another
living skeleton were Of o kind calculated to
drive any tender-hearted freak to drink. he
told young Hobart Eruesome tales, such as that
otBily Ratcllfe. who was the best skeleton In
the business, but who was most abominably
treated by the woman In whom he put his trust
And all the while the snake charmer firted
with the strong man before young Hobart's
very eyes. But here, for q moment. we must
let Mr.. Charles Belmont Davis loose. to
tell his narrowing tale through the medium
Of the legless man. Poor Billy" said
that saturnine philosopher. "he was o great
i~avorIte with the ladies, but he never cared for
but the one that killed him. He died OF a
broken heart. She was a fine blonde. too. He
met her from the platform and married her q
week later at her home in Harlem. They were
very happy for o time. and then b took up
with a ticket chopper on the elevated road and
Ratclife pined way and died. She certainly
did treat him rough. You see. Billy couldn't
walk by himself. as his legs weren't big
enough to carry him: 30 when the
ticket chopper had finished his work
he would come under the window and
whistle. and the blond woman would lift Billy
out Of his chair and lay him on his back on the
floor while she went out. Billy used to lie there
on his back. for all the world like q turtle. and
kick and hollow for help. but the %neighbors got
used to IL. and never gave him nc heed" Small
wonder that poor Billy broke his hearth And
what viii be the feelings Of any tender-hearted