The times., 1898-05-08
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a new book 10y MN appears lil' ~ 1it
American public is apt not to care very
much wha. ii IS about. bat 20 settle down
contentedIy 10 its perusal. in hammock t
or by ireside. as the season may direct
The atmosphere Of stockton sure 20 he /
found ia IL. the characters and the lam
guage are sure to be Stocktonesc Ia what I
ever quarter Of the globe they may he T.
wandering. and that is all that is really 4
necessary. SIN there are some speci- I
mems of Stoclztonese of a less ripe ana
Juicy character than other some and h.
reader can never again feel quite the
shock Ct delighted surprise which ar
tended tie first reading of "Rudder
Grange or THE Lady or the Tiger2"
There must be q first time in everything
1t may be, however. THAI If The Girl
at Cobhurst'' had been the FIRST OF Mr..
Stockton's works. instead 81 arriving at
the end Of a tweuty-years' procession of
mirthful creations she would have made
quite as much Of a sensation as did the
canal boat household The book is full Of
delightful people and quaint and comical
situations. and il has all the unexpected
ness OF incident and denouement for
which Mr. Stockton Is justly famed.
United States who can gather in a book
50 many perfectly ordinary people who
DO quite extraordinary things from en-
tirely natural motives How. for instance.
could tG@re be a more simple and normal
Set cI characters than q schoolgirl en-
deavorinE 10 keep house for her brother,
who IS in torn eDdeayoTinE TO run farm
on very Ettle money pretty and we'll
to-do yo1ng lady. who takes an interest
in The brother and sister; single lady,
with a penchant for matchmaking. who
takes q lively interest in all three. a
country doctor, with a wife much worried
over the fact that servants are hard 10
obtain in a small village. and the doctors
digestion consequently suffers: "A trained
cook with great devotion 10 a mother
and daughter whom she has formerly
served; some servants. calf and q dog
That Is the entire list Of dramatis per
EOnae.
Their motives as viii be seen by the
above statement, are Of the most simple
and commonplace order yet out of these
seemingly mild materials Mr.. Stockton
evolves a series Of c0mplica lions crises
and catastrJphes which would do honor
10 Par.sian court circle in the time of
Louis Ky. Other men may need ship
wrecks. flying machines and mediaeval
arm0r 10 make a romance exciting; Mr.
Stockton lays his scene 81 country vii
fage and causes the heroine TO trip not
GaIA AA4E G44s-A - "a a A444l4Als DAA DkeI HFI
own pettic0ats. while the hero IS
blinded. not by the deep and dark
Vaccinations Of some wicked pl0tter, but
BY an avalanche Of hay. or the natural
stupidity q human nature, or something
OF that kind As becomes an American
novelist. Mr.. Stockton can use ship
wrecks and railway wrecks with great
skin when occasion demands but be does
not need them. lie Is in that respect
VERY much like In Fleur. the cook whom
he brings before the public in This par
sicllar book. and who Is worthy 70 rank
beside Pomona and the 7river ~ the
ClOYertIelds carriage. 4his cook. al
though she perfectly understood how to
Eet Up file dinner with The materials
used in the houses Of the rich and great
was equally a. home iu kitchens where
the inmates were obliged 10 DE ec0nomI-
cal With q eridIrou a saucepan and a
IRE. she said she could cook q meal fit
for duke. for with brains one could
make UP all deficiencies The widow Of
two successive husbands. both chefs. one
French. the other Italian. she had alb
sorbed all the fine qualities u both
schools uf cooking, and regarded her call
ing as fine art
So MI Stockton. lie has the lightness
OF the French school and the geniality
of the English. without being himself a
native OF either country, and he can
make an artistic and tempting literary
ropast out 81 the c1mmoGest kind OF ma
terials-using green peas and caviare,
peacocks' tongues and boiled mutton.
with equal ease and success. IN this par
ticular book he uses green peas and
boiled mutton, and dishes them up so
EEllfUlly that nobody can really predict
what the next course S. likely 10 be-
Next 10 the cook Ia FIeur. the uumar-
ried lady with "a talent f0r matchmaking.
Miss Panney. IS perhaps the most sue
cossful character in the book from a lit
erary point Cf view, though she is any
Thing but zucccessful in her eudeavors
20 make the course Of true love run
smooth in the way she wants IL to go.
The average Teader-nost people have
had some experience with the match
maker frsternity-wil feel a thrill OF
sympathetic appreciation At the eXpe-
Tence Of the coachman, Mike:
asTaiu't tie first time said Mike that olt
Mis- PanHey has done that sort O thing. Sd,
come p me one day, more than SIX ye-r ago
and saws. Mike says she why don't YOU MARI.
Pfoebe MoElegT ''C4use ! don't want 10 m1rT1
htr nobody else Sass ]. But you ought To-
says sic, for she's gan8 woman. and Hlc'
washer and iroucr, and you'd Do well together
Don't want no V-shln. nor lronin, nor NJ
Phoebe. nuther,' says J. But She didn't Iuin'
noiLin' what J said an gucs an tells everybody
tii:t me an Phsehc was g0in' to he married; an
tln Ct WAS We did gIt married, jet 20 stop Poo
pie talEln ~ much about if. ana now look q
Us BE never 81 u4nch as gittin' bite Of corn
bread, an she a-b9srdin' tHe miHistert
Mike. by the way. Is negro. with
some Irish blood in him. whose Hiber
nian dialect and plantation dialect hay.
70 far neutraIized each other that h'
talks ordinary American dialect and tha
IS by no means his only !diosyncrasy. Mr.
Stockton evidently made up his mind tl
evolve a new kind 0f negro. for q change
Another touch 0f nature 10 the book Z:
the perplexity of the doctors amanuensi'
over his handwriting. and the way IL
which the phrase. THE cropsticks Of ia
mIngO HcTastus gUack. is made 10 re
solve i,self thlTty-two pages later, int,
the philosophy q physiological c0ntras
grows" And then there is a love-uak
iug. scene IN bed ~ lettuce which con
ciudes Ga this significant fashion:
She raised 70 lin face more brightly hue
than any peach blossom rich with the color
the ripe fruit Ten MINUTES after this two WOO
doves sitting iu tree o. the east oi the le'
tHue bed, and looking westward turned aroun
On their tVig. and hooked toward the east The
were sunny minded uttle creatures. and did nf
like 70 De cast iut0 the shade
Mr. Stockton IS not an eminently quot
able author because the charm Of al
books lies rather In their subtle atn0s
phere Of whimsical and genial oddity tina
in amy specific paragraph OF a witty o
poetical turn, but II the extracts give
above do not satisfy the inquirIng book
lover that the New Jersey hum0rist ha
lost none of his spiciness and charm.
viii be well FOR this b0ok-lover 10 rea
The Girl al Cobhurst" and make sure q
g. IN II really very entertaining boob
eNew York: Charles Scribner's Sons
Washington: All booksellers. Sl-J0)
The LondoBers."