The times., 1899-01-01


screamed she would probably have attract
ed the attention of some of the crowds of
working-foik who were pressing westward
, toward the river Even in busy New
York it is likely that,the fragments of a
broken window pattering down upon the
| heads Of crowd aud accompanied by the
shrieks of young woman in the top of
4 snut-up Office building, would have made
a slight disturbance. But this, for some
reason or other vas not Miss Laura
Balms way out of the difficulty. After her
would-be lover had gone, scared off by her
tigerish feroCity. she proceeded to open
the window stand on the sill and try to
/ reach a balcony On the next window with
her foot. 1t is explained that the wind was
| blowing SO hard that it nearly blew her
! off the front of the house. But she did not
succeed in reaching that balcony. Then
she found some matches and lit the gas,
and discovering pencil and paper, proceed
! ed to hold a spirituaistic seance all by
herself This gives the hero time to ap-
pear on the scene and free her. spraining
1 his ankle in doing 50. The sprained ankle
makes it necessary for her to help him
home to his bachelor apartments, and all
| goes merry as marriage bell from that
| time on. There is one more attempt on.
| the part of the villain to accomplish his
! designs, but he is again scared away, this
| time by the ghost of his mother and the
| hero and heroine are finally left to enjoy
| each others society, with a sort of per-
manent insurance policy in the form of
| mysterious communication reading:
| Goodbye, Laura. In pain and sorrow, call
on Editha.
As the young man who has become the
protector of Miss Balm seems to be en-
dowed with fair amount of intellect, it is
to be hoped that the Etherians were not
so badly overworked in protecting their
heroine after his appearance.
Altogether, Mr.. Ralph's spiritualistic
| novel is hardly success There is nothing
thrilling about it except the episode of the
locked building, and there is no plot to
speak of. While the scene is supposed to
be laid in America, the atmosphere is half
English, and the mixture is rather incon-
gruous in effect. The idea of 4 mixture of
the spiritual and material in fiction is so
| fascinating that several famous novelists
have tried their hands at it, but Mr..
] Raiph's working out of his conception is
| decidedly clumsy. It savors of mapping
and measuring the Eternal City and re-
! ducing the angels robes to fashion
plates. Mr.. Ralph would do well to confine
his researches to the Bowery. (New York:
Harper & Bros. s1.5O)
| Stories in Light and Shadow" Bret
| Harte's latest book, is mixture Of tales
| from several different localities. Two or
three are from the authors old stamp
ing-ground, Californiayo one from Ger
| many, and one from England There is
nothing particularly new in this little
| volume, but some of the tales remind one
| of the immortal legends of Jack HAM
lin, Brown of Calaveras, Miggles and
| Truthful James. That is the best one can
| possibly say about Bret Harte in these
| later years-that he recalls his own great
est work-and thatsis great deal.
| Two of the stories in this book are
worthy OF place in the earlier coilec
| tions. They are tSee Yup'' and THE
| Passing of Enriquez." The former is the
| history of a Chinese laundryman who was
| probably related to All Sin, and who
4 played a most smooth and profitable game
in certain mining camp. In fact, the
| tactics of See Yup consisted of inyeigling
the less subtle and ,astute WesteTner into
cheating himself out of his eye-teeth;
which is much more Intellectual process
than doing the cheating personally. and
comes to the same thing in the end. See
Yup is a creation. Solis Enriquez. He, as
readers of current magazine may rsn'eea-
| ber was a merry. baArted. eccentric and
immoral Mexican wilo managed 10 per-
| suade a Boston school teacher to marry
| him. The present story is told of his sub
| seauent adventures and his picturesque
and dramatic end. There is an intangible
pathos about it which the earlier Enri-
quez sketches lacked. The picture of the
scene in which the Mexican's sense OF
honor unexpectedly crops out-the time
at which his irresponsible, wayward ma
i ture reaches its high-water mark in
morals-is worth quoting He tells 1t
himself. He owned a mine, and had a
disagreement with the board of direc-
tors:
He took long pull at his cigarette, ard for
a few moments seemed quietly 10 exude smoke
from his eyes, ears, nose, even his inger-ends-
everywhere, in fact, but lis mouth. THAT and his
mustache remained fixed. Then he said slowly
ficking away the ashes with his little finger:
First, you understand, friend Panchc, that
make no row The other themself make the row,
the shindig. They make the dance, the howl, the
snap of the finger. the cath, the Helen Blazes,
the 'Wot the devil, the That be ID, the bad
language they themselves finger the revolver, ad-
vance the bowie knife throw off the coat, square
| off and say: Come on | remain you me
now. little brother-tranquil." lie lighted anOth-
| or cigarette, made his position more comfortable
| in the hammock and resumed: The Professor
| Dobbs who is the genlogiun OF the company,
made report for which he got two thousand
dollar But thees report-looil you. friend Pan.
cho-he IS not good for the mine t0r IN the
hole in the ground The Professor Dobbs have
found .hoss.'
"a whatg'' l asked
y
ity But not, icetle Palcho the hoss that run,
tthc moss that bucl-jump, but what the miner call
| a hcsS, something tna- UP in the vein,
| and stop him You pick around the moss; you
pick under him; sometimes yOH tnd the vein,
sonnet lines you do not. The hoss up and re-
main. Eet not COED for the mine The
board say: 'D-d the poSs!' Get rid OF tho
hossn Chuck out tie Aoss!' Then they talk
together. and say 10 the Professor Dobbs:
'Eef You cannot thegs hos remove from the mine
you can take him out q the report. He look
10 me- thees professor. | nothing: | re-
main Tranquil. Then the board sag: 'Thccs re-
port with the hOss in lin is worth two thouS
and dollar, but without tle hoss he is worth five
thousand dollar. For the stockholder is frighted
Of the rearing hoss. 1t is of necessity that the
stakeholder shall remain tranquil. Without the
| hoss the report is good; the stock shall errise;
the director shall sell out, and leave the stock
holder the hoss to play With. The Professor he
say: Alright he schatc out the h0ss, sign his
: name and get a check fT three thousand dollar
Then | errise-so!'' Il got up from the ham
mock. suiting the action to the word. and dur
ing the rest OF his narrative. | honestly believe
assumed the attitud, and deliberate intona
ton he had exhibited at the board | could ever
fancy SAW the reckless. cynical faces Of his
brother directors turned upon his grim, rnpassivJ
features II am tranquil smoke my cigarette
| say that for three bundled year my family have
! held the land Of thees nine; that Il pass from
| father to son. and from son to son; il pass 10y
| gift it pass by grant, bt nevarrc there pass
| lie with it, l say it WIS gift by Spanish
| Christian king TO a Christian hidalgo. for thj
the swndlc! / say that this mine was WORKED
| by the slave, and by the Eiuc, and by the ass
! but never by the cheat nd swiudler. say thai
i, | If they have struck the boss in the mine thcy
! have struck the hoss in tc land Spanish hoSs
| a hoss that have no bride worth five Thousand
| n. DO lta l,-l IN. aud ID