New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-04-10
NEW PAGE IN NAPoLEoNIc HISTORY

cago: Way & Williams.
sHEILAH MLEOD A HEROINE OF THE BACK
BLOCKS. BY Guy Boothby. DuOdecmo, PIP.
255. F. A. Stokes Company
DEAD SELVES BY Julia Magruder. Duodecimo
PIP. 25o. Philadelphia: j. b. LippIncott q CO.
THE SMART SET. CORRESPONDENCE AND
CONVERSATIONS BY Clyde Fitch. Duo
decmo, PIP POI Herbert 5. Stone q CO.
Mr.. Benham's romance" is really a colossal
extravaganza. 1t is colossal in more ways than
and threatens, therefore. to prove weari-
so ne. The book is obviously too big. Having
resolved to tell utterly incredible story. mix
ing up actual dates and places with the most
fantastical inventions, Mr.. Benham should have
remembered that a little nonsense goes a great
way. that TO put up with his extravagances
through six hundred pages is more than could
he expected Of most readers. Yet, with appro-
priately paradoxical humor, author makes
those pages too readable to be resented. His
drama is so forced to almost i'm
pertinence. yet one cannot help being amused.
In fact this book shows remarkable ability. 1t
is not given to many novelsts to put fragrant
imposition upon the reader and keep it up with
such art as to make the whole thing seem not
only natural but the kind Of thing that one
wishes might have happened In spite Of the
gnominious end Of the Fourth Napoleon, in
spite Of the wIetched traits which he develops,
mis- adventures are absorbing
The author Of Caleb West" is also a builder
f Lighthouses. and in this book he has evidently
lraWn upon his professional experience, min
cling the love story Of his hero with a picture Of
he various stages in the laying Of a light
house foundation dangerous reef. The re-
suit has interesting sides but it cannot be said
hat Mr.. Smith has equaled his Tom Grogan'
in this book. His touches Of Characterization
are deft and Caleb is ndubltably picturesque
figure. but that minging Of two loosely related
motives to which have alluded has weakened
he whole. The desertion Of Caleb may be said
10 spring from the work on the lighthouse but
me latter should either have been made to refer
more closely to the old divers domestic expert
-nce. or it should have been sub1rdinated to
that experience We speak. Of course, Of the
dramatic elements in the situation. As a mere
background for Caleb the reef and its slowly
rising burden Will DO, but something more than
4 background is needed, especially as Calebs
own happiness and woes are disappointingly
without striking significance. Mr. Smith has
made a long novel. in fact. out Of material
which should at the most have furnished forth
a brief sketch. 1t is not unnatural. therefore.
that his Caleb West" should seem limp in
construction and colorless in effect. The reader
perseveres. fortified by his interest in the talk
about an unfamiliar phase OF the engineers oc-
cupation but when he reaches the end he feels
that the issues involved have been, after all.
decidedly unmportant.
Mr. Lummis is fond Of boyish heroes Perhaps
he writes with a special eye upon boysh readers
At any rate the style Of his stories is little
crude for an exacting public, and there are tales
in both these volumes which. we fancy. will 60
unread outside Of juvenile Libraries On the other
hand there are moments in which Mr.. Lummis
appeals to everybody The King Of the
Broncos' is a thrilling little narrative and in
nearly all his stories, even in some Of the least
impressive, he handles with notable skill the
surface color and picturesqueness Of his South
ern fields.
"shellah Mcleod" IS a story Of love and Of
murder. conventional in conception and execu-
ton Not one of its situations IS unhackneyed;
its characters come from the stock company OF
novelists puppets; its hero is thoroughly UNI
heroic. Yet when all this is said it must be
added that the little story, which may be read
through in an hour or so, will not release its
reader until the last page is reached. So much
for the "knack" Of born teller Of tales.
Mss Magruder's sentimental story has an ex-
cellent moral. and one which the title makes OBJ
yous. Apart from its moral and certain fem
mine gentility Of style, 1t has little merit II
belongs 10 the class OF women's novels which
one can hardly imagine any healthy minded man
reading with interest unless he happened to be
visiting the North Pole with no other book in
sight.
The Smart Set" is compacted Of cheap cynic-
ism and sordd commonplace. The letters and
dfalopuas which preciirne apOarentlV. be