The times., 1898-11-13

l
side-whiskered gentleman with a pre-oc-
| cupied manner, short temper and four
| adult children. Nor does she care to be
| warned that she Is on the road to eternal
| perdition If she does not rub all her boots
with vaseline every morning, and Put all
her hats in separate boxes labelled so
that she may find them without trouble.
AS rule. the business girl has only two.
and she does not need to label the rest
ing place of each that it may not be lost.
| Nor does she have a separate cushion
for each variety of pin. She will. there
fore. on glancing at this chapter in the
book, shut 1t with emphasis and disgust.
And she will lose but little. New York:
Doubleday & Mcclure Company
Model Houses for Little Money by
William l.. Price, is one of those books
which the 6weiler in the suburbs, the com
muter, the bicycle riding, lunch-done-up-
in-a-napkin man, find 50 mysterionsiy en-
ticing. Since this type of American Is
quite common in the reading public the
book ought to have a large sale, for the
price is modest and the contents Interest,"
ing. In II we are told how to build houses
of from six to twelve rooms, costing from
S,o00 to A,ooo, and are assured that over
800 people have already built houses ac-
sums specified. This is encouraging, and
the plans and pictures Of the houses are
certainly delightfully."- realistic, but the
experienced will still be skeptical and
wonder whether that s1,Co0 house will not
have cost something like $3.50 by the
time the roof is on. Housebuilding ac-
cording TO newspaper plans is one of the
most uncertain things in this world; II Is
more uncertain than the stock market or
n nffat- hot
that is not called a bet. New York: Dou-
bleday & Mcclure Company)
"A Lover of TRUTH" by Eliza Orne
White, is pleasant story OF no especial
merit or demerit. The characters are
well drawn, the interest sustained
throughout and the object of the book
kept in view perhaps a little too clearly.
The motive of the author is to show that
u person may love truth most devotediy
and still not tell the whole truth in sea-
son and out of season; that a person
who prides himself on perfect veracity
may be intensely disagreeable. and that
there are other estimabe and lovable.
qualities beside truthfulness. CBoston:
Houghton. Mifiiin & Co. Washington:
Brentano)
"Wild Eelin," William Blacks latest
book. Is typical Black novel, and when
that is said all is said. William Blacks
Highland stories are the best pictures of
the Scotch Highlands yet printed, and
that in itself is a great deal. Moreover.
he is one of the few novelists capable of
drawing a thoroughly charming woman.
and an individual woman. as well. Black
more's Lorna was lovely: but he has
repeated her, or tried to. ever since.
The women of Blacks novels-Alison
Blair Meenie Douglas. Carry Hodson, the
Daughter of Heth. Mary of Helmra Ger
trude White-are all as different as ros-
es, pansies and orchids. They are alike
only in a ilower-like brightness and win
someness. Wild Eelin the heroine of
the latest Highland tale, is OF a new
type, and is as delightful as any. One
wonders little at the caprice of her ere
ator in ending her bright existence In the
last chapter; but there is no accounting
for authors whinls. One can only re-
construct the tale for ones self. and make
II come out right" New York: Harper
& Bros.
The Adventures of Captain Kettle"
by cutcliffe Hyne, is an adventure book,
pure and simple. 1t was evidently writ
ten for the purpose OF packing In as much
adventure of the most varied kind as could
be put between two covers The ONLY
thread which holds these adven-
lures together is Captain Kettle
Himself, and he Is quite differ
ent from the conventional naval he
ro. He is wee man. slight and active
as terrier: he has savage little face
tipped on by red, peaked beard and he
is always immediately neat in his dress
HIS adventures are had in Cuba, South
America, the Red Sea, the pearl fisheries
OF the Mediterranean. and all the seven
seas. Some of his perils are encountered
on land. but more of them on the deck of
Il ship. The whole book smells of tar
and salt water. Perhaps the most inter
estlhg chapter Is that which describes
hhoustering expedition to Cuba. in
which Kettle was captured by the insur
gents and came near being shot. par-
ucularly artistic character sketch is that
of the mulatto insurgent leader. Cuchillo.
with his suavity, his murderous disposi-
tion, his cowardice and his eternal cigar.
Inc local color is vividly laid on, and the
honest and straightforward nature of rho
small nero brought out in a way that is
haIf comic, half pathetic. Captain Eet
tie is not much OF story. but If Is =
fairly-good bunch of sailors warns with
little. savage sea dog for the hero of
them all. tNew York: Doubleday &
Mcclure Company. Washington: Wood
ward Lothrop)
by order of the Magistrate" by w
fett Ridge, in book of decided origi-
haiity ana certain piquant interest
the interest which attaches to any fai,b-
fui portrayal of any phase of human life
The title of this book suggests one of
those romantic, Zenda-ite novels of an
uncertain age and Il more than uncer-
tain quality, which have lately been 50
numerous. But ii is not that kind of
book at all. II is the story of a Cocknev
girl. born and reared In London. in tho
vicinity of the Walworth Road and re-
1oicing in the name of Mordemly-other-
wise, Maud Emily-but Mordemlv from
cover to cover of this book. Trim-bui I
1.-THE and lively, she somehow reminds
one of a foX-terrier-full of fight lovaI
10 her friends and her clan, and with a
moral sense utterly untraineJ. In the
hrst chapter she belongs to the "Gillikel
gang ga mob of young female hoodhlms
led by one Miss Gilliken. Her father Is a
convict and her mother "a drunkard a
liar and a thriftless woman. She is about
as unpromising material for a heroine rs
one could find. The pathetic tenement
house saint does not appear in this bo ok
Mordemly, under the leadership of Miss
Gilliken, assists in the raid of a bakery
and gets caught by the police and sent to
the house of correction. Escaping from
that pleasing spot, some two or three
years later, she secures a place as wait
ress in cheap restaurant and makes a
good living until discovered by her con-
vict father, who is as much of a scoun-
drel as the limitations of respectable
print will allow. AT about this time she
meets Miss Gilliken. who has Joined the