The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-03-04

ings toward him. After this CONVERSE
ton the king is moved TO meditation on
the possible parallel between himself, re-
garded as a bridegroom by winsome. at
tractiye Elsa, and Madame Coralie with
I her unpleasant old husband. 1t is COM
bination of ideas, full OF satrical humor
and cynical tragedy.
Altogether. The Kings Mirror -
| which, be it understood. is simply the mir
ror of his inner life reflected in the story
| told by himself-must be accounted one of
the best things Mr.. Hope has written.
| tNew York: d. Appleton & Co. sl25)
/ Minor Fiction.
| AT Start and Finish" by William Lind
| sey, is book of stories OF type that
is somewhat new. They are told in the
! first person by an Engiishman who acts as
| trainer for college athletes, and they deal
! with footreces, jumping, football. and
| lsarly every other form of athletics OK
| cept rowing. The atmosphere is whole
| some, the style vigorous and clear, and
| most of the stories are we'll worth the
telling. Moreover the reader is not over
burdened with technicaities, and there IS
considerable variety in the subjects of the
| tales.
There are nine OF them in all, and four
are particularly good. His Name Is
Mud is pathetic little story of a mascot
! dog. How Kitty Queered the Mile" is a
bit Of college romance. spicy and humor-
| Gus. "Atherton's Last half is the only
| real tragedy in the book, and "A Virginia
Jumper" is a capital piece of character
! work
Mud was a character. There are not
many writer's who have introduced dog
| fight into their fiction, but Mr.. Lindsey is
| one. He says that one evening he saw
| crowd in the street, evidently gathered
around two dogs having a quarrel. He ell
bowed his way through-and he admits
that he is not sure that his motive was the
separation of the combatants-and found
them to be 4 St Bernard and "a very
email and intensely angry terrier. weigh
, ing about as much as his opponents left
leg. The terrier would make a spring
at the big dog, be rolled over like kitten,
gather himself up and go at it again.
Finally the ST. Bernard got tired OF it, and
seeing a gap in the crowd. started out
i The terrier caught him by the first joint
of the hind leg and bit hard. That was
too much for the big dogs patience, and
he grabbed the terrier. shook him and
dropped him on the pavement. Then, with
a look of reproach at the crowd, he trot-
ted away.
AZ this point appeared on the scene some
football men, led by big Shack" Sawyer,
who remarked that the dogs name SEEM
ed to be Mud. Water was thrown on the
small body, and he sneezed, struggled to
his feet. and began to look for his late
antagonist Deciding that he had come
off victor he began to bark triumphantly,
and that settled Il. Mud attached him
self TO Shack Sawyer and the college foot
ball team then and there. The boys de-
clared that he must have had woo1chuck
somewhere among his ancestors, though
he was mainly fox terrier. He was afraid
OF nothing. Mr.. Lindsey says in sort
Of parenthess:
A dog Of his own size smaller he treated with
easy condoscension. he looked upon anything
larger as enemy, and a very big dog he con-
sidered a personal insult. matter how he be-
haved Whatever the motive was however, Shack
kept busy pulling him ont Of the jaws of
bigger dogs whenever he took him for an airing.
To keep the little dog out Of mischief
during practice hours, his master hit upon
the expedient of setting him TO guard his
sweater or some other article of attire,
and it was thus that Mud came to his end.
He was placed upon that sweater during
the football game in which he acted as
mascot and the crowd, in an exciting mo-
ment, swept over him and crushed him.
Whatever else Mr.. Lindsey may do in
the future, he can already claim the honor
of having written one of the best dog sto-
ries in our literature. iBostoH: Small,
Maynard e Co. sL25.)
THE Sword of Justice" by Sheppard
Stevens, is a somewhat sombre romance of
Florida in the days when Frenchman and
Spaniard struggled for the ownership. 1t
is carefully written and full of historical
details which lend yividness TO the narra-
tive. One of the most interesting charac-
tiers is the Indian chief Satouriona. Dumi
nique de Gourgues also appears in the
course of the story. The hero and heroine
are French refugees escaped from Span-
lsh massacre. The hero takes refuge With
the Indians, when boy and owing. to a
blow on the head. forgets all his past life.
He is finally, after many years, discovered
by his mother, who wanders into the
woods in search of him, and calls back
his memoir of childhood. She dies, after
telling her son the story of her own wrongs
at the hands of his fathers enemy, and the
aim OF the young mans life thenceforth
is to ayenge the death of his parents.
Eugene Brissot. the heroine comes into
his life before this aim is fulfilled, and
the chapter which describes the months
passed by the two among the Indians is a
charming idyl of the forest The atmos-
phere of the story is realistic, and the
motive is both original and full of ideality.
Boston: Little, Brown & Co. $1.25.)
with Sword and Cruclfix,' by Edward
s. Van Zile. is story of adventure in New
Spain. in the days of De Soto. There are
Indians in 1t, and Spaniards. and French
men, and Mexican -worshipers, and
considerable fighting, intrigue and adven-
ture. The tale is simply told. and the hero
is an admirable character. The heroine is
charming Spanish maiden. captured by
the sun worshipers and held prisoner
under the impression that she is Coyocop,
the goddess of the sun. The plot has one
striking characteristic, il is absolutely
Uncomfortable OF course, the reader knows
that the hero and heroine are going to
come out of their net of fluctuations some
how or other. but how. not the astutest of
novel-consumers could guess until the
proper time. Their plight, up to almost the
last minute, seems quite hopeless, and full
of danger from all sides. They are i'm
periled if they go to France. il they are
discovered by the Spanish if they stay
among the savages. However. all is serene
at the last and no one can help being glad.
There is one curious thing about the
book, which may or may not be Intentional
on the part of the author. All through the
first part OF the story. when the heroine
speaks to her father, or he to her they
: oil in, enrt nj blank verse &c in