The times., 1898-09-25

is thus saved by the skin of his teeth
from having raised an effectual bar
rier between himself and his lady
love. The remorse which he feels during
the time when he believes himself to be
a murderer has salutary effect on his
character, and from being a somewhat
irresolute and unworthy scapegrace he
becomes respectable member of society.
rich man and the husband of the hero
inc. The book is fun of incident and
movement, and interests the reader from
beginning to end. 1t will also serve as an
inducement to read the other books Of
Mr.. lsoothby, II one has not already pc
rused them, so as to discover who this
interesting DIR. Nikola may be. (New
York: Appleton & Coz
A wee book by Mary r. wilkins Is
THE People of Our Neighborhood,"
which belongs to the Ladies' Home Jour-
nal Library of Fiction, and consists OF
sketches which originally appeared in
that publication. 1t might be called Miss
Wilkins in miniature, so thoroughly do
the brief and finished little stories re-
fleet her personality. They are of the
type already familiar in "A Humble Ro-
nance and "A New England Num- as
accurate, as exquisite, and as dainty as
Japanese fiower-painting. Timothy
Samson; the Wise Man" describes one
OF those notables to be found In every
New England village, and for that mat
ter. most other villages-the man who,
having no book learning, yet seems to
possess all knowledge; who knows some
thing about everything; who can cure
sick people as well as a doctor, draw up
wills as well as minister make as good
prayers as the parson. and do bits of car
pentering that the village carpenter
would think beneath his dignity or be-
yond his power. There are six little por-
traits In all. of which the most charm
ing Is Little Margaret Smell: the Village
Runaway" the most pathetic is Cyrus
Emmett: the Unlucky Man." and the
most comical, with a sly, quaint humor
that is the authors very own, is 'Phebe
Ann Little: the Neat Woman" Besides
these there are three stories, describing
1.-The Quilting Bee '"rhe Pairing Bee"
and THE Christmas Sing
Miss Wilkins has never written any
thing more demurely comical than the
tale of the pairing bee in the Stockwells'
barn, when there was fire caused by
an overturned lantern and the guests
and the family were so startled that it
spoilt the festivity and they all went TO
eat cold bread, dried apple sauce and one
pumpkin pie. No tea. coffee, milk or
Finally, just as every one was leaving,
the hostess was overcome by flood Of
recollections. She had prepared a fine
supper, but the fright had driven it all
out of her head. The picture OF the two
Stockwell women standing at the gate,
and wailing over the contretremps, and
enumerating the mince pies, the apple
pies and Indian pudding and plum pud-
ding, and pumpkin pie and cranberry pie,
l, III
cults and beans and pork, and pickles
and chicken pie, and coffee, and tea for
them that wanted it; and poundcake and
fruit cake and sponge cake and ginger
cookies and seedcakes, which they had
prepared and left in the pantry, TO be
eaten up by the family, is one of the
funniest things in modern literature. And
it is recorded that as the guests went
down the road they heard their hostess
saying:
"There were iried-apple turnovers and currant
5elly thrts,' said Hannah Stockwell, feebly, but
lnsistentiy, and peach preserves and tomato
ketchup-'
Where that list ended and what was
done with all the goodies Miss Wilkins
leaves us TO imagine. The book is one
of the prettiest and most satisfactory Of
her volumes of short stories and Is IL
and several pictures by Alice Barber
Stevens. 1t would make a charming gift
book for anyone who enjoys skillful char
acter studies. (New York: Doubleday &
Mcclure Company. Washington: Wood
ward & Lothrop. so cents.)
-Four Months After Date" by Randall
Irving Tyler, is a story sui generis.
It is not likely that anything
frrG+ ka ~ rai
before 1t is called "a Business
Romance" and 1t is one. The hero is one
Billy Burt, OF whom we are told at the
beginning that when he got married he
was s100, 900 In debt. The plot of the story
deals with his scheme to liquidate all of
his various debts, and be able to provide
separate establishment for the "peo-
ple-in-law'' who made his home uncom-
Portable all by one grand stroke of busi-
ness. The interesting feature of the book
is the character of this hero. He is one
of those people-we all know them-who
are liked by everybody, who are always
full of schemes of one kind or another,
who are always in debt, always have TO
increase their debts for some occult rea-
son, and yet manage to keep a sublime
confidence in themselves and the implicit
trust of their feIlow-men. 1t is a relief
to see one of these jolly good fellows
clear himself OF all membranes, even
in a book, and the reader is led breathless
from chapter to chapter in the eager hope
| that he will do II. He does-on the last
| page-but, like most of his kind, he saves
| himself by the merest chance. There is
a love affair which forms a sort of side
issue to relieve the monotony of Billy s
| schemes, and notes. and foreclosures, and
bluffs, and checks, and buying and sell
Ing of railroad shares, and this love af-
| fair has also its element of business II
has to do with Billys partner. Billy
| himself is married and ready for work
| when the romance begins. The pages OF
| the story are crammed with Wall Street
| phrases and technicalities. but they are
| used with a deftness which enables the
unlessoned reader TO understand what is
| going on. The story cannot be said to be
| exactly artistic but it is interesting and
! 1t Is unique. (New York: Stuyvesant
Publishing Company.)
"Klondike Nuggets is a story of life In
| the almost obsolete region of the Klon-
| dixie, by E. S. Ellis. of the Deerfoot and
| Log Cabin Series. If this were a book fol
| grown folk 1t might have to wait for its
| popularity till the revival of the Klon.
| dixie boom, but as 1t is intended for boys
| 1t may find readers even now. 1t is 6
| good story, well written, and affordng &
certain amount of information about the
| region of the Yukon. 1t describes the ad
ventures of two youngsters who, in com
| pany with veteran miners, go seeking
| gold during three adventurous months IL
| Alaska, and return with snug little for
| tunes and valuable experience. CNev
| York: Doubleday & Mcclure Company
publishers. Washington: Woodward &
| Lothrop0
1.-THE Broken Locket," by Will Garland
| &c LITTLE volume hound ,1jolr