The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1899-10-29
A Strong Book
"The Helpers" a
Colorado Story.

incandescent in ecstacy over a painting OF
a German village. and glow under the
vagua witcherv of the quietude. suggest
ed nv a village chimney streaming Us
line of smoke, arrow-straight' up"dFu
But give him a Kansas village on the
same canvas, with colors adroltly iaio oh,
and he will VOW he smells the onions ol
the evening meal and turn away, not III
disgust, but En condemning dlsllteres'
kansas has never given romance 10
the world, and probably for TINS reason
For that reason it is interesting 10 iinO
authors who tentatively set their charac-
ters IN against the background OF neigh-
boring states, and particularly tnat
neighboring state which is, barring Okla
homa. the most familiar to kansans-
Colorado.
The Kansan spends his summers IN COL
orado reaching Wagon-Wheel Cap %
Glenwood. or Aspen, if spared by the ran
road sandwich and the railroad c'iiee'
and with rod or gun, CRATES show-leatheI
and business care off on the granite sur
faces of that state. He knows f1asef-
mann's Pass, the Saguache, the fFyihs
Pan and Roaring Creek, Elk MouillaI'i9'
the Grand and the Colorado. he knows
about true fssure veins, and leads plncheu
out. tunnels and drifts.
And here comes an author, Francis
! 1vnde who festoons al romance from peak
to peak. and seeks to interest, with the
rest of the world, the Kansan. And ne
| docs II. The book is called 1.-The Help
| ers." and as its pages turn it wins the IN
terest, The author has long crawl up a
divide. with at least his Kansas reader
| altered TO Mt the
| altitude as it is on the locomotives cross
ing Hagermann's. has work to do to drag
interest up the crest, but once up, the
i brakes clank loose and the reader shoots
down the long slope, eated and fascinated
at every turn of the page.
We do not know the author, or his place
| of residence but he has single fault-
word carpentry, which he should Tor
swear. But even in this he was perform
ed a good service, for he has resurrecleu
that obsolete word "tinnient," and set 1t
going again. the only word we know OF
that tells the unhearing ear OF the mys-
terious elfin music of both prairie ana
mountain landscape.
The author tells a good story. His Lead
ing character is a young man from Ne"
England, who brings a ''wad' to Denver
and drops it in the usual gas-hghted tap
leau of the tiger" behind twin green
leather doors. with an oval glass In each.
A. naturally vigorous character Wits INTO
fa.bby collapse at a stroke of the gam
bIer's wand, and the young man resolves
on Contamination, the compelling cause
2. rich Young woman whom he loves, and
of whom he believes himself unworthy
He is deferred by a "prospector," typi-
cal Colorado character, whom the author
has handled entirely too gingeriy. Inc
prospector's name is 'Garvin, the young
mans name is Jeffard. Garvin has beer
: grub-staked. He wants ''pardner' an(
u he likes the looks of Jeffard and make:
the proposal.
They travel into the mountains beyond
Leadville and on the way Jeffard give
II ont. The prospector cares for him witt
Il that tenderness and fidelity so character
i istic of his kind. and, in this work, no
10 overdrawn or given a wasteful touch o
= sentiment. Jeffard, unknown to his part
= ner picks up a wirey mass of minera
and puts it in his pocket. They set GU
I to IeadviIle with their specimens, t
submit them to an assayer. The assaye
n disposes quickly of the exhibit, but see
ing the casual pickup of Jeffard pro
f nounces it wire-gOld and an assay show
K that it is a bonanza.
Of The reader is now on the top Of Hagel
E. mann's pass and the spell is over hin
al even the Kansas reader, for. in the bolt
d. clean strokes with which the author linn
a the emotional torment of Jeffard, II
w Kansan forgets the familiarity of Il
nd rocks and the day-in LAYOUT drudgel
en- of life in Colorado. as he has seen it.
It's Garvin, the prospector. gets insane
Nv drunk when he is informed of the find, al
nj. falls into the hands of sharpers. tt
to claim is not yet located. The young ma
he Jeffard has the only map of the plac
ID while half the find, at least, belon
it strictly to Garvin. The sharpers ma
of Garvin believe that Jeffard is seeking
beat him out of his share, a not owe
Of difficult task, while the man is In
ng trimming cups. Jeffard has his ov
Gle temptation TO rob his friend. He
nd Gates the claim. The rest of the story
The the property of the author. But it
&c when the book gets alongs this far. til
M the author shows his strength and 0
ok realizes that an emotional conflict, set
ian any scene, is absorbing.
vas The vigor of Jeffard's character, unt
I
vas ton of his former friends and the blal
res. of the woman he loves. comes stro
MS again and sets as firm and clear
yes bronze, but this time evil
and His misery love Of his gold, his rave
av- in gavarice, his Arctic contempt for
ng. the world thinks or says, make MIN
red striking type a type that IS cOntras
ex- by the Coloradoan conditions which
OF decidedly of the come easy. go cas-
sort.
left The characters are all Of the Color;
test atmosphere with this single except
They are on the heights one day and
Al the depths the next They know "
AN it is TO hand "gold pieces" to those
by nees without the air OF charity OF a N
day and how to go proving aro
, OF hoping for a grub-stake the follow
onaI Saturday.
osed They are good figures, free AMI e
der and unaffected, and the author has CIV
. At among them and noted carefully
dse. niceties Of their variance from the
nted OF the world. The books conclusion
viii an anxiety 10 the reader from the mi,
urls pages on. and the end is not displeas
h in Houghton MiTlin & CO. are the publ
with ers and the work can be secured at
e. Goldsmith Book and Stationery comps
-ork- Wichita
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