The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-03-25

ter Of the seventh son. whose curse shall last for
ever and forever She raised her hands dramati-
caly.
vogels color became that Of the vhtewashed
wall; his body seemed to shrink into the floor;
his knees qusked; his hands we're clasQed'as u IN
prayer The black cats purred about him unno.
uced; the curse Of the SEVENTH daughter passed
uuheard; bic eyes were fastened upon his shadow,
which stood in silhouette-like relief the blank
wall.
IF you don't pay me what is due me-" threat
cncd the woman in the most impressive voice she
could command Il will order the shadow 10 TIT
after you until the end 1t will follow You when
you are awake, and viii stand over your bed
when You are asleep. | am fat! ! am chime!
cheat az cards! l am a weed am ~
Nogels teeth Chartered; be mauudcred some
words that were as indistinct as the habble Of
babe. He felt in his pocket mechanically, dropped
lis dollar and half on the floor, and ian from
In the hallway he cursed and howled in a man
ncr that the seventh might have envied; but &C
that particular moment the seventh daughter en-.
Wed nobody; She lay back in her chair smothered
with laughter, patiug her cats affecJioulJeiy with
her leit hand, jingling the silver with her night
and blinking az the parrot which was trans.aI-
ing \ogels German curses into Dutch.
Another chapter in which some telling
work is done is that which describes the
experience of the old musician and his
wife when they go to live with their elder
daughter. who has married a well-to-do
but close-fsted carpenter. There IS more
human nature in this little book than in
most novels of the day, but the authors
style is better suited to short stories than
to the more ambitious form OF novel, and
it is to be hoped that his next work will
be a volume OF brief romances as delight
full in their truthfulness, pathOs, and hui
NOR as Poor People Boston: Hough-
ton, Mifiiin d Co. $500
"Enoch Willoughby," by James a. Wick
ersham is a story of old time Quaker life
in the Middle West, and of the develop
ment Of spiTitualism in a certain family
of Quakers The author has evidently
aimed to give a faithful history of the way
in which spiritualists are made, and. so far
as the psychology and character study OF
the work go. he has certainly succeeded
The types which he has selected for pOr-
trayal are exactly those which, in a print
tive rural community, develop eccentric
religious views, and perhaps the snrewd-
est touch in the book is to be found on
the first page. when the author remarks
that all the Willoughbys had a streak
Of what is called queerness. Everyone
knows families of this type. The queerness
rarely goes TO the extreme Of positive in
sanity; it often gives some one member OF
the family the independence, strength Of
essary To make a reformer; but in one
branch or another it is likely to run into
some eccentric form of political, religious
or social conviction.
Considered as a psychological and his
torical study. therefore the book is a sue
cess. There is no incident in it which
could not be paralleled over and over again
in half the rural communities of this cOun-
try. But, measured by the standards Of
fiction. it is less satisfactory The author
has a provoking way Of mixing up his
lenses, and he does this quite as thorough
~ as any man could under the limitations
Of the English language. He begins by
telling us the whole life story of some
character in the book and then goes back
to deal at length with some incident in
the life of that person. referring casually
to things which happened TO other char
acters. and TO the death Of somebody or
other. after which he remarks. Peace be
to his ashes'' Later in The course of the
tale the person who has thus been disposed
of hobs up again quite seTenely, and takes
part in some occurrence which concerns
another character Ii is confusing to the
average reader, whose mEd has been nour-
ished on novels of the ordinary type In
short Mr. Wickersham knows how TO de-
scribe a character. but he ought not to try
to tell a story because he has not the sto-
ry-teIlers instinct. However. "Enocn vii
loughby' will have It's place in the descrip-
tive fiction Of today New York. Charles
Scribner's Sons. $1.50J