The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-12-10
RECENT PUBLICATIONS.
With Hoops of Steel, Florence Finch
keIly's New Novel.

Out of the flood of novels pouring from
the presses this -season-novels psychology
ical. religious, historical. having '.pur-
pose" making. many of them. rather hard
r~eading-it is pleasant to come upon one
which is simply entertaining and aspires
to be nothing more. with Hoops OF
Steel by Florence Finch Kelly, Is a tale
of life in New Mexico, the scene laid in
the time. a few years back, when the
troubles between the great cattle COM
panies and the ranchers, who had hitherto
had free use of public lands for their herds.
had their beginning. The action takes
place In the town of Las Plumas and the
surrounding country, which includes some
wild and mountainous territory. The au-
thor is evidently thoroughly familiar with
her ground and with the people, as her
description and character portraits show
Here is her picture of Las Plumas, the
likeness of which TO any one of a hundred
New Mexican towns even one who has
merely seen them from train windows must
admit:
"Unkempt, dusty and dirty, struggling In
its narrow length for a mile along the irri-
eating ditch, the village of Las Plumas lay
sleepily quiet. under the hot. white. brood
ing spring sunshine. A few trim-look-
ing places cuddled their yards and gardens
close against the life-giving channel. whose
green banks, covered with vegetation and
shaded by trees. bisected the town. Else
where, naked adobe walls fanked the dusty
streets, and from their stark surfaces gave
back the sunshine in a binding glare. Here
and there an umbrella tree, or a locust,
made a welcome splotch Of green and
shade down the length of the barren.
set back a little from the adobe sidewalk,
held a few clumps of shrubs and flowers.
A half-dozen cross streets sprang up
among the scattered adobe houses that
dotted the edge of the plain, rising to the
Hermosa mountains on the east, crossed
the bridge of the ~irrigating ditch, and end
ed in the one business street. which trailed
a few closely-built blocks along the west
ern edge or the town, near the railroad
and depot"
The hero, Emerson Mead, is a ranchman.
or cowboy, and, with two other talwar
Texans. are the friends whose hearts are
bound to each other with hoops Of Steel"
and whose adventures form the incidents
of the tale. In the first chapter Mead is
arrested for the murder of the mysterious
ly missing son of the president of the cat
tie company, and from that moment events
move at a lively pace and with no dull in
terludes. An attractive girl. of course. fig
ures in the story, and there is a crafty
villain, a lawyer from Denver. who is one
of her admirers, and whose schemes for
winning her add to the complications. An
amusing feature is the manner in which
politics is made 70 figure in affairs not at
all political. There is a good deal of shoot
ing, first and last, though no one is killed
who does rot deserve it; there is a thrilling
adventure in the mountains, and a dra-
matte court trial among the events. 1t is
not a tragic tale, however, but a cheerful
one. The literary style is good, the Incl
dents are skillfully handled. and altogether
the author is to be congratulated on the
production of an uncommonly spirited and
agreeable story. The book has a number
OF Illustrations i'm color, after drawings
by the New York Herald artist. Dan
Smith. Published by the Bowen-Merrill
COMPANY.