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

! is somewhat new They are told IN the
! first person by an Englishman who acts as
| trainer for college athletes. and they deal
/ with foOtraces, jumping, football, and
nearly every other form of athletics OK
| cept rowing. The atmosphere is whole
/ some, the style vigorous and clear, and
! most of the stories are well worth the
! telling Moreover the reader is not over
burdened with technicalities, 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 a pathetic little story of a mascot
/ dog. How Kitty Queered the Mile is a
! bit Of college romance, spicy and huDor-
/ Gus. "Atherton's Last Half is the only
/ real tragedy in the book, and "A Virginia
| Jumper" is 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 a
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
small and intensely angry terrier, weigh
3. 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.
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. shock him and
dropped him on the pavement. Then, with
4 look Of Teproach at the crowd, he trot-
ted away.
At this point appeared on the scene some
football men. led by big Shack" Sawyer,
who remarked that the dogs name seem
ed 10 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 Jriumphantly,
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 be 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 parenthesis:
A dog Of bis own size or smaller he treated with
easy condoscousiou. bic looked upon anything
larger rs an enemy and very big dog he con-
sderCd a personal insult. no matter how he be
haved Whatever thu motive was however, Shack
was kept busy pulling linn 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 il 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-
meut. swept over him and crushed him.
Whatever else Mr. Lindsey may do in
the future, he cen already claim the honor
OF having written one Of the best dog sto-
rics in our literature. (Bostoa Small,
Maynard Co. 1920
as
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. It
is carefully written and full of historical
details which lend vividness TO the narra-
tive One of the most interesting charac-
tiers Is the Indian chief SatouriOna. DOmi-
nique de Gourgucs also appears in the
course of the story. The hero and heroine
are French refugees escaped from a Span
ism massacre. The hero takes refuge with
the Indians. when a boy and owing to
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 IS 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 avenge 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 Crucifix." by Edward
6. Van lille is a story Of adventure in New
Spain. in the days Of De Soto. There are
Indians in it, and spaniards, and French
men. and Mexican n-worshipers, and
considerable fighting, intrigue and adyen-
ture The tale is simply told and the hero
is an admirable character. The heroine is
charming Spanish maiden, captured by
the n-worshipers and held prisoner
under the impression that she is CoyOcOp
the goddess of the sun. The plot has one
striking characteristic. it is absolutely
OF course, the reader knows
that the hero and heroine are going to
come out Of their net of trlbulations some
how or other. but how. not the astutest OF
novel-consumors 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, If they are
discovered by the Spanish, if they stay
among the savages However, all is serene
81 l,- nd No cpa 90 baI no oil
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
talk in a sort OF blank verse. As in some
parts Of Lorna Doone' the words fall in
evitably into metrical form. 1t is quite
easy to write nearly all of these speeches |
IN the form Of blank verse. thus:
Julia says:
The sea 4. Kind to US.
Sec Wonder rainbow 'gainst the purple east.
An omen such as that
Is worth a candle to ST. Christopher.
And her father replies:
It's not SO strange the saints should wish US
well.
We 20 to serve the work Of Mother Church
To tcll the heather Of Mary and her Son,
To raise the cross where blood-soaked idols stand
To fight the devil with the Book and prayer
And the girls prosecutor says thus
smoothly:
lis no mad fancy nor an idle boast
Which You have heard from me. | know my |
power.
II YOU are wise. you'll take my word for mis-
If the work of some alleged poets read |
as trippingly as this, their readers would be |
less inclined to madness. If Mr.. Van Zile |
meant this book for a drama. and then |