New-York tribune., 1901-10-26

n. Saiammbo ana tne rest Delohs, iioccu. "
a world essentially OF FIaubert's making The
background may be that Of the archaeological
student, and therefore historically plausible
but the light, the air. the sights and sounds. the
emotions, the actions, all Of the writer's
fancy. The story moves with a curious i'm
pressiveness; sometimes ii is grandiose as a
page of Gibbon. and sometimes II echoes Inc
operatic crash OF Meyerbeer. 1t is prodiglous
variation Carthaginian theme big, violent
and, in its way strangely absorbing. Granting
Flaubert his world in .'Salammbo." it is managed
by him with remarkable skill and aplomb-
There is a thread OF story running through
Miss Sibley's volume "a Lighthouse Village,
but It is not the story that counts. The main
things for the author have been the successful
transferrence OF the atmosphere OF New-Eng-
land coast village 10 her pages. and the humor-
Gus but friendly Characterization OF the human
oddities found therein She has produced a
number Of what might be described as literary
water colors; delicate sketches which present
humble folk in unpretentious but bright man
ner She has drawn her models at first hand.
and her work has reality
Mr. Lefevre's Wall Street Stories is a book
which requires. at the start. patience in the
reader. 1t threatens him with one of those sugar
coated pills of instruction which are too thinly
about the ways and wiles OF Wall Street and
give us too little Of the entertainment OF fiction
But presently he shows that he has. after all.
sense Of proportion. and speculative methods
abstraotly considered, take subordinate place:
We are introduced TO genuine men, and follow
their transactions with considerable zest. Per-
haps the best story in the book is the first one
The Woman and Her Bonds" in which the
amount OF needless worry an unreasonable
J raxaer
broker is capitally set forth, but all these eight
! narratives OF urban travail and excitement are
worth reading
.'Yorke the Adveuturer>' IS compounded OF fact
and fiction. The titular story exhibits ro-
mantle figure IN exciting circumstances. amid
picturesque surroundings; there are some shorter
/ sketches. IN which the author seems TO be
Iningling actual and imaginary elements. and TO
Ill out the book there are several good arti-
cles based on observation OF nature in the South
Seas. Mr.. Beclse has had a deal OF experience in
that region HIS pages now seem those OF
novelist. and again they strike one as coming
! from clear eyed traveller. In both cases they
are well written. with tho SAVIOR Of exotic things
interpreted by person really familiar with
them.
Folk lorists especially VIII enjoy Mr.. Grinnelrs
new book THE Punishment OF the Stingy and
Other Indian Stories" but for the lay reader.
too, there is something in this volume. II is the
appeal Of unfamiliar, half barbaric and half
civilized motives the appeal Of rudey poetic
Ideas. rudely and yet very effectively expressed.
Mr.. Grinneu repeats his Indian legends exactly
as he heard them. seated IN the fickering fire
in Blackfoot skin lodge in Pawnee dirt house.
! or in seashore dwelling on tho northwest coast"
He has not attempted TO explain the symbolism
| If symbolism IL is-of these fantastic tales. He
! leaves us TO find that out for ourselves IL
care TO do so. But it is not improbable that
most readers will prefer 10 take the stories just
as they stand receiving them with the willing
credulity that Is excited by a good fairy tale.
What ie the meaning Of the story called The
Girl Who Was the Ring" with its herds OF buf-
felo coming to be killed when the girl is placed
IN q swing by her brothers. and later transform
ing her into ring Of rawhide? II does not mat
ter what the meaning is. The mere fantastioal-
| fly of the story is enough TO hold the reader II
| is book Of queer visions and dreams that Mr..
Grinnen has put together. with the unmistakable
| note Of the North American Indian firm fixed
on every page.