The times., 1899-12-20
NEW PUBLICATIONS.


is a true lover OF the wilderness and tells
his stories. sympathetically yiviliy. and
humorously. Ia the first person. Thee are
only Two characters IN the book
"COmauch' ard the b0y. The latter is q
tousle-headet barsfo0ted youuszter Of
fourteen or fifteen. with natural love for
the woods. and a genius for hunting aut
. fishing, and the volume Is simply COLES
tiou OF brief sketches OF the adventures ths
two chums had or their various expetl-
uons. They hshed. they hunted qaai.
beaver and wild seese-the real not the
metaphoricaI wild Ecose-thev campcd out
and hnaliy they went from the boy home
some sixty miles west OF che Missouri
I in prairie region. TO take a Sr.gng tour
I through the mountain country near the
| Bad Lands. where they shos deer. raced
/ with a prairie FIRE. aud bad ether ez-
/ periences. 10 is a book Which would p.0se
/ fascinating to every normal boy and Co
/ most men who like TO think Of ;heir own
/ boyho0d
+ It is just possible that Mr.. Philips has
used more dialect than vas really n edsd
In reproducing the boys manEe- Of talk
ing. but after ALL he has written it wtth
absolute accuracy. and that is a great
thing There is no afiectation and 70 ar
tiiciality absut il; 10 is boy talk. wiyh
slang syucOpatiOns. irrevereut saluta.ions
+ ing TO his companion. Come on. less hike
out o. this. or to breach a scheme with
the words, say, IN tell yea what less DO.
and when d boy gets 10 that point Of iEii-
macy with grown man il argues that he
man knows human nature.
I The sketches are all so good that 70 is
/ hard to select one for especial cOInme uda-
tion. but "A Day Along the River" Is one
OF the most charming In this the boy
I camps and caches are described, ard IL be-
/ comes apparent that there is close resen-
( blauce between this young hunter and TIE
Indian who preceded him. He has one
[ camp IN the middle OF a thicket wheee
I there Is a liTtle clear space under three tig
cottonSsjods; and the trail to it has been
wound about and about to make be blind
As the boy explains.
I II I'd cut it straight everybody would come
I right into camp. but it Winds around sesI yeh
can't see any trail tall less yeA know where
TO 60.
In the camp under punches Of leaves
and twigs. the boy hid his supplies no two
in a place; and the story OF the uuearth-
Ing Of these. and OF the meal that the two
comrades made-hsh, bacon, aud coffee
Will appeal 10 every person with a grain
Of love for the gypsy life. Then there are
stories Of the trailing Of iackrabbils and
the trapping Of beavers. and Of one lazy
inuumeTable Il Is safe 20 say that anyone
who buys this book either FOR himself OF
another Is not likely to regret it. It is
one more delightful addition to the Htera-
ture which has come in the last decade
out Of the Middle West. tChicag0. Herbert
s. Stone < Co. $I25-)
'Ben Gomez" by NJ J. Canayau. is a
story for boys. and adults also. II they care
for a simple narrative OF icLion favored
with history. The time Of the story is
about a hundred and fifty years ago. the
hero is a sturdy New England farmer boy.
whose name gives the book its tide; and
the story concerns his adventures during
I the French and Indian war He joins the
regiment known as Rogers Rangers. and
makes the march into Canada; the COndi-
ton character. and hardships OF the pro-
vincial army are vividly described. though
without unnecessary ThstOric. and the hero
ard his friends have several rather thTih-
i ing experiences with the Indian allies OF
the French Finally, Ben Gomez is wounded
and is obliged TO go into hospital In a farm
I house Wh=re there is a pretty girl and the
story ends with their marriage. The style
of the work is very simple and unassumiEg.
and there is no plot in particular, but the
tale IS well told and that is the main
thing. (New York. The Macmillan Com
pany- $L5OJ
"My Lady and Allan Darke" is a story
I Of American colonial life, by Charles Don
! mel Gibson. The style OF il reminds one
I of BlaCkmOre. and there are certain eie-
ments in the plot which recall that authors
/ masterpiece There is quicksand in it.
/ for one thing. and a most diabOlical and
/ mysterious villain. and the Master is
not unlike old EnsOr DOOne in certain
ways. The story is well told and fairly
/ original in its working out New York;
The Macmillan Company. SL5o)
The Human Boy is a collection OF
/ eleven stories OF boy life, by Eden Phill-
potts. All OF these deal with the happen
ingS of an English public school, and all
are told in the first person but each by
/ different boy. The way in which iC is man
/ aged is this: The boy begins his story and
goes on for page or two and thea says,
7 when the developments seem 20 demand
it. Il may mention that am called Nc
Iunes." or Il am Bray. the cock OF the
. Lower School" The effect is picturesque
and happy especially after one has read
. the book half through and heard what the
other fellows had TO say about McInnes
and Bray. There is much local color and
public school slang in these. and also
great deal Of boy. When for example.
I
make protest and place themselves in
a state or siege. as an expression OF their
disapprCyal OF a certain master the way
in which the scheme is carried out is very
rich In amusement The list Of provisions
/ contributed is particularly interesting. as
showing what the boy mind considers nee
4 essary in such cases For example:
NcInnes-A Iot OF spring onions and lettuees.
costing one and sixPeuCe- lHcIgnes had beeD
reading "a book about chaps getting seuvy et
a raft and lie thought siege Seuid be jIs-
the place for scury, so he bought all green
stuff
Was5on MiE0r-Two pounds dog biscuits, on.
pound dried t-s one box ii dates. ASKED vhE
he took doz-hiscuits. he explained ir was hecaEse
he had seen advertisement about the goodness
OF them. It slid they had dried bufiIlu-Insat ia
/ them, which thing You could live fer 5n
I ilnrncrss duration ot time on. Erelawuy SAID
/ that was pretty fair seIsse for q kidl
/ Corkey Niuimus-Three pcurus q mixed sweets
I tBradueH smacked his bead when he heard whar
Covkey Miujmus had got; hut Trel@wny pointed
out that few sweets served cut troIn time %
time might distract the mi0d-}
And so on The siege did not last til al
the supplies were used up.
The EoCk is hardly likely TO be intensely
popular among the schoOlmsster5 OF Eng
land. because the opinions advanced cor
cerning these worthless are the boys ODiu-
ions and not as a rule, hattsring Doctor
DuustCu's HOwIer'' is a good example OF
the gentle English schO0lbOy's reverence
for those in authority over him The book
is realistic and it is beginning TO dawn en-
the public in general that that is good
thing in books for boys, even II To does
. lead 20 some rather queer revelations. Il
is not much like Dean Farrar's iuCerestius
tales of school life, and that is high rels