The Honolulu republican. [volume] (Honolulu, T.H.) 1900-1902, 1901-10-06
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HTHAT promises TO be one Of the
w noteworthy novels Of the latter
III haIg OF the year Is -Dfn sn6 II
By Irving Bachelor. which has
been running as 4 serial IN the Cen
tzry since At August. and which Is
nov brought out IN very nne style.
With excellent illustrations. by the
Lethrop Publishing Company OF B0s-
ton The story Is stronger than
-Eben Holden much wider In scope.
and il brings out Ike Gilbert Parker's
The Seats Of the Mighty the cub
ture and the wealth OF the few great
French families that we're established
in the Canadian wilderness. near the
American line In this new story Mr.
Bachelor he's given Hs another type
Of the north country Yankee as perfect
as Eben Holden. and far more attract
i've because or MS romantic advent
ures, his simple, unquestioning cour-
age and his splendid loyalty to the
ton for the old name Darius is a char
acter second only in strength and low
ableness to the hero, Ramon Bell.
Bell Is a-young fellow of French de-
scent who has been taught perfect
workmanship by his father. and as
is natural to the son of pioneer, he
rides. shoots and exceIs in all manly
pastimes- 1t was fitting that he should
be among the first to go into the war
against the British in 1872. and it is
in this struggle that he meets the ad-
ventures that make up the staple Of
this story.
Mr. Bachelor was born within sight
of the beautiful st. Lawrence river,
and Ii was his good fortune to hear
from the lips of men who had gona
through fits perils the story OF the
subduing of the great wilderness of
Northern New York, and of the fights
with savage foes that made good sol
diers of every farmer. In the opening
chapters of this story he has given
one OF the best pictures of the early
pioneers who came from New England
and blazed their way through the nor
thern wilderness that lined the banks
Of the st. Lawrence. The hero of the
story was then boy. and his advent
ures with D'ri, the powerful young
Yankee farm laborer, are very good
reading. All his descriptions are alive
and all have vital bearing on the story.
On nearly every page one comes upon
short bits of description that are SUI
perlatively good. Here. for instance,
is picture of the St Lawrence:
And the big river is the very tiger OF
waters. now stealing on. pussy-footed.
now rushing with cat-like swiftness.
Kissing and striking-with currents
that have in them mighty sinews."
From the time that Ramon and D'ri
entered the American Army at Og-
densburg the two friends have their
work cut out for them The guerrilla
warfare Of the border may lack the
pomp and ceremony of real war, but
it is full of opportunity for courage
and skill. The two friends are given
many dangerous commissions. and the
result is that one exciting adventure
follows another, the record of fight
ing. capture and escape being relieved
by the hero's love escapades with two
young French girls of noble family,
who have been placed for safekeeping
In charge of an old baroness in a cha
teau in the vast wilderness. Louison
and Louise are fine types of the
French demoiselle and in the story of
Ramon's love for them is a very clev-
erly developed allegory of sensual and
spiritual passion. Isouison. with her
splendid physique and her coquettish
ways. appealed to ali that was mascu-
line in him; but Louise. with her
spiritual fervor. gripped his affections
closer, and in the end won his lasting
love-
In this book however. there is much
more of adventure than of love-mak-
| ing. and the adventure is rarely well
told. OF course, D'ri is ubiquitous.
and always appears at the right time
| in an emergency. He does more than
ten men could accomplish, but that Is
| the license of romance. Captain Ra-
mon Bell is gallant figure. and he
has some experiences that stir the
blood. Hand-to-hand encounters with
British officers are varied by some re-
markable escapes from captivity. The
most dramatic of these was the ordeal
of the sword put upon Ramon by Lord
Ronley. a British officer, in the Tenn
pie of the Avengers. the headquarters
of a secret political society in Canada.
near the American border.
This episode Is evidently drawn
from the records OF some of the secret
societies OF the War of 1872. and it is
told with so much. power that no one
who reads il can ever forget any of
its thrilling Incidents
Take it all in all, Mr.. Bachelor has
surpassed most of his predecessors in
the field of historical romance in the
interest of his narrative and the pow
er Of his descriptions And in some
| way he gives you a sense of his firm
masculine grip on the realities of
things-something which is lacking
in several books by recent women
writers who have shown extraordi-
nary eleverness IN reviving the 70
nance Of the early Colonial period OF
American history.
The story ends. as all good stories
OF adventure should end, in the happi
ness Of the man who has proved his
manhood in many dangerous straits