New-York tribune., 1899-06-11

passant to Flaubert; how the young writer was
made to describe over and over again the same
thing, until out OF a mountain Of paper there
emerged one perfectly written page Kiplng
seems to have found his eyes and fingers at the
start 1t is said Of him to-day that he sees
things as they are. and puts them on paper as
he sees them. He did this at the outset and so
sure was his touch that even when he caught
but glimpse Of object and refused to at
tempt a full description Of it. he could convey,
somehow. an impression extraordinarily vivid.
Take. for example the lines the Tai. that
monument Of lCvclness which has been written
to death. The fragment IS not a masterpiece
but it tells something. and it is a Kipling frag-
ment: AS the Enelishman leaned out Of the
carriage he saw first an opal-tinted cloud on the
horizon. and, later certain towers The mists
lay on the ground 50 that the splendor seemed
to be floating free Of the earth; and the mists
rose in the background 50 that at no time could
everything be seen clearly. Then as the train
sped forward. and the msts shifted. and the sun
shone upon the mists the Tai took hundred
new shapes each perfect and each beyond de-
scription. l. was the Ivory Gate through which
all good dreams come; il was the realization Of
the cleaning halls Of dawn that Tennyson sings
Of; it was yeritably the aspiration fixed tho
sign made stone Of lesser poet; and over and
above concrete comparisons, it seemed the en-
boGiment OF all things pure, all things holy, and
all things unhappy. That was the mystery OF
the building 1t may be that the mists wrought
the witchery. and that the Tai seen in the Gry
sunlight Is only. as guidebooks say, noble
structure The Englishman could not tell, and
has made a VOW that he will never go nearer n"
spot for fear VI breaking the charm Of the un-
earthly pavilioIs' - II may be that If klphng
were descrbn- the Tai to-day he would write
in A different ren but it seems unlikely that II
he did so he would give his reader any clearer
idea Of Just how his neeting glimpse Of the
Great temple impressed him. That is the merit
that DISTINGUISHES all The letters In this book 1t
NAV, be- a landscape that.thc traveller essays 10
draw: il may Dee a mail driver on the road IN
diiaridated tonga. it may be a royal stable or
sinister tank inhabited by ancient crocodiles;
il may be- a pig-driye i'm Udaipur or a murder IN
san Francisco: whatever his subject may be ne
sees IT, feels it, holds il in the hollow OF his hand
and makes the reader see il in all the yividness
Of life itself The Letters Of Marque which
partly fin the first Of these two volumes are con-
cerned with Indian life and scenes. Then fol-
low. under The title Of From sea to Sea the
letters commenorating journey to Japan and
America and after these. in the CITY Of Dread
full Night" We are on Indian ground again with
divers other brefer papers drawn from the
same source filing out the book. Everywhere Is
evident the same skill in delineating with pho
.ocrauhic accuracy whatever comes under The
observation Of the author. In the Letters Of
Narque" We pause over the beautiful picture "f
= deserted city the city Of Amber. and the thing
is not one whit more powerfully visualiZei than
m. murder to which We have alluded. We must
cite the latter as an illustration Of the terse
dramatic style which Kipling was using even in
his newspaper days Carrying his reader to the
door Of a den in Chinatown. San Francisco, he
proceeds thus:
on the second underground floor man asked
for ..cumshaw." and took m downstairs to yet
another cellar. where the air was as timex as
butter and the lamps burned little holes IN ii
not more than an inch square. IN THIS pace
rnker club had assembled ana was IN iuh
swing. The Chinaman loves "pokeI and plays
II with great skill swearing ike a cat when ne
loses Most Of the men round the table were
IN s.-,li- European dress. their pigtals curcd
up under billycock hats. one OF the compdh!
Looked lik. a Eurasian. whence ! argued that
ne vas q Mexican-a suppositlOn that later IN
quiries confirmed. They were picturesque set
OF fends and polite. being too absorbed IN thelr
game 10 look at stranger We were al uecp
down under the earth. and save for the rusl"
- ~ hIua Gown sleeve and the ghostly whisper
Of the cards as they were shuftied and played
tbere WAS no sound. The heat was almost un-
cndurable There was some dispute between
the Mexican and the man on his left The la'-
Ter shifted his place to put the table between
himself and his opponent. and stretched Ieah
yellow hand toward the MeXicans winnings.
Mark how purely man is a creature OF IN
stinct Rarely introduced 10 the pistol, sd"
the Mexican half rise in his chair. and at the
same instant / found myself full length On the
door None had told me that this was the b@st
a,t,tude hen bullets are abroad. | was there