The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-04-22
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| allowed il to be published under his name
! but certainly something was. This writer
has made himself a name by writing books
| with a sort of flashlight brillianCy about
| them. interesting because of their style
1 and bizarre originality. The King in Vel
! low was clever; The Haunts OF Men
! remarkably SO. and the authors other
] works did not disgrace him at all. But
/ this latest romance is packed with blum
J ders of pretty nearly every kind that the
| proofreader would allow to pass. 1t does
! not appear that anyone but that individual
has exercised a kindly supervision over
| the book.
To mention all the discrepancies, errors
social anomalies. fTeakish improbabilities
and other peculiarities of this astonishing
work would require another book nearly
the size of the original. 1t is only Deces-
sary 10 notice a few of the more obvious OF
these in order to excite the wonder and
awe of the reader at the audacious liberties
which the author has taken with his repu-
tation.
We End. in the first place. a good look
ing young bachelor living out in the middle
county of nowhere. apparently, all by him
self, engaged in scientific study of butter
flies. 1t is later explained that this is in
The State of New York. He has as his as
sistant pretty girl of eighteen or nine
teen. who spends the greater part of each
day alone with him in his laboratory. or
at his house. She presides at his table on
occasion-one of the occasions being n for
NAL dinner, at eight in the evening, at
which the guests are two men, and a mar
ried woman whom the girl meets for the
first time that day. We are informed that
the young lady had "a fresh cool boudoir in
the house, although she seldom used It -
and il was in this room that she dressed for
dinner. 1t Is also in this room that, after her
fathers death, she stays for a month while
she is making mourning to wear for him
And nobody in all that Arcadian region
seems to think that this is a peculiar ar
rangement especially in a maiden who.has
announced TO her father that she means to
marry man who has, apparently, never
taken 1t into his head even to firt with
her.
We also find that the young bachelors
land is worth half a million dollars or
thereabouts. although he does not know
1t. and nobody tells him of it. On account
OF a very mixed-up collection of reasons
connected with this land. some mysterious
kuklux individuals known as the White
Riders. apparently wish to assassinate the
bachelor The girls ia Their is one of the
leaders of the band, and with the perspieac-
ity of which such mai would Of course
OC hdAlNEs At StlS HIS uduSHltT TO
him mask for the occasion. and lets out
to her the fact that an attempt is 10 be
made on the life OF the man whom as she
has previously informed him, she means
TO marry. The only way which the young
woman can see to warn the man is to dis
guise herself as a White Rider and 90 with
the crowd-which would commonly be con-
sldered somewhat risky and entirely I'M
necessary proceeding. We are given TO I'M
Flr T1F a 10. r.
ciently educated to know how to read and
write. but for some reason or other a writ
ten warning is impossible. While in her
disguise she encounters the young hache-
Tor. de begins wrestling match with the
supposed White Rider. and wipes up the
very wet and swampy ground with the fig
ure, which never, in all this to-do. utters
one word to warn him or disclose its iden-
uty. This book is as good as a Chinese
puzzle for mysterious motives and the like.
There are numerous minor points involved
in darkness, such as the finding of girl
toating around in a boat at midnight by
herself, for no conceivable reason, and
iropped from nobody knows where to meet
some exigencies in the plot. Altogether,
Mr. Chambers latest romance is fearfully
and wonderfully made. There are
some literary magazines which
publish short letters by authors
Oh the day Oh Why / wrote"
such and such book. An account. by Mr.
Chambers, Of the precise reasons and cir
;umstances attending the writing Of this
book might be interesting, if not edifyins.
The average reader will feel when the !
work dawns upon him, something like the |
armer who discovers that he has bought |
4 gold brick. or the absent-minded one !
Who in walking down stairs, lands upon a |
yep that is not there tNew York: Fred |
.rick a. Stokes Companyl