The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-04-21

about her early life. The conversation
loses some of its whimsical charm whei
detached from the rest of the history o
Truth, but part of IL is worth quoting
Grandma, she taught me readin'
and writin and geography, and his
tory. As soon as | knew how, she
made me read out loud an hour every
day; and daddy read to us both at
night
"'What books, for instance?'
We'll, II vase mostly Paradise
Lost" and ''Lalla Rookh," and Eng
lish history. We all love poetry. On
Sundays we read the Bible, and Bun
vans Pilgrims Progress and they
let me look at the pictures and ask
questions about them. Daddy knew
just everything!
Van bent his dark head over his
cigar. Those were all good books;
indeed, they are classics he man
aged to say gravely. Were those all?'
Truth clasped her long arms about
her knees, and rocked thoughtfully
to and fro for moment.
No there was one more, FOX
Book of Martyrs" l didn't like the
the nightmare. Once | blistered my
finger .awfully. tryin' to hold it in
candle like Bishop Lltimer and Rid
ley. | loved Pilgrims Progress,
though. l had lots of places in the
woods named for places in his 1ourn-
ey. / got nearly drowned twice in the
branch, tryin' to cross the Slough of
Despond. Her tone fell suddenly. 1
reckon 1t was not sure-enOugh
swamp that Christian crossed.
know now that he meant-just-trou-
ble!'
" Didn't you sometimes read regu-
lar nov els? asked Van, quickly. He
would not give her time 10 enter her
'sure-enough' slough again.
The strategem was successful.
Truth arched her neck like young
l, u inn
ma says that novels amt proper read
in for young girls
How about fairy tales?'
=" Fairy stories-do you mean? Oh,
thosei I've read hundreds and hun
dreds of those. I lived in them. be-
lieve in fairies yet They used TO
come to me when ! was half asleep in
the woods, and whisper to- me their
ones in books. But when | woke up. -
just tremblin with listenin', all had
gone out of my head. and l could hear
the mean little fairies laugh as they
flew away. Sometimes | even thought
! could see them hurryin off on but
terfiies and mosquito-hawks. and l
know I've seen their little heels dive
under ferns and low bush huckleber-
ries. But wasn't ii mean for them to
run off like thatY
She appealed to him with irresisti-
Bile, childish coquetry. Her deep eyes
were half yelled by lashes, her head
SlueW1Se. ner exquisite lips
parted in pretty displeasure. As for
her voice-it had the richness of honey
that the wild bees Gull from upplowed
moors and plains
When it is stated that this piece of
simplicity childishness and native refine
ment out of the woods of Alabama is
transplanted to the most intricate and
advanced complexities of modern Boston,
the contrast will be seen to be sufficiently
dramatic for anybody. (Boston: Little,
Brown & Co. s150)
"a Soldier of Virginia" by Burton Egg
bert Stevenson, author of AT odds With
the Regent" is a story of Braddock's de-
feat, with a young Virginia militiaman
for the hero. Washington, then a colonel
under Braddock, figures somewhat promi-
nently in the story, and it is a stirring
one, full of adventure, incident, and plot.
The real value of it as historical fiction
Braddock campaign. which is evidently the
result of thorough knowledge of the
events and conditions of the time The
cerned in the campaign is well defined,
and the story of the Inflated expedition
and the horrors attending its failure has
moreover, a map Of the ground covered,
so that the reader can trace easily the
course of the take. The heroine is typi-
cal colonial maiden, with spice of CO.
quetry which for a time effectualiy dis
suises her real inclinations. But the whole
story really leads up TO the carefully
studied history of Braddocks defeat
Boston: Houghton, Miffiin & Co. S15O)
------
God, the King, my Brother" by Mary
F. Nixon. is story of the fourteenth cen
fury and the time of the Black Prince,
and the scene is laid in Spain, which Is
ground for novelists so far as
that period of history is concerned. The
author has chosen for her chief charac-
ters two young noblemen of English birth.
who go 10 Spain in quest of adventure and
Dreferment, and fall in with the famous
Don Pedro of CASTLE, who is a somewhat
prominent parsonage in the story The he
-oine is a Spanish senorita of high degree
rescued from great danger by the broth
srs in the approved style of a romance of
times. The title of the book is
AIKEN from the motto of the heros fami-
". which is, in the old Norman spelling,
'Dieus, Ii Refs, mien Fredre.' The in
.erest of the romance lies rather in the
story than in the character drawing,
hough the latter is good enough, and the
,olor and atmosphere of the time are re-
produced with a skill which shows
IN aptitude for this sort of writ
ng and familiarity with the place and his
ory of the time. Boston: L. c. Page
Z Coz
THE Progress of Pauline Kessler," by
TradericL Carrel is n studv of modern
.ondon society. which reminds one lit
lie of a dissecting room. 1t is clever and
trong, which makes up for the unpleas-
intness of it. The heroine is a sort of
Becky Sharp, an adventures with cool
read and no feelings. She is Of English
Italian ancestry, with a strain of Semitic
Hood a very good combination for the
,laying of games of mixed skill and
nance. She is thoroughly convinced of
he truth of Pucks historic observa-
ion. and deliberately sets herself to
,rofit by the knowledge of what fools
hese mortals be. This is all very well, and
'ery pleasant. until she proves mortal
nough to try a little bit of folly her
elf, when she meets her fate The end
ng is rather melodramatic, and that is a
'ity. for the thing is so artisticaIIy
worked out that it seems Il pity to spoil
t in that way. All the same, it is a
lever piece of work. Boston: L. c. Page
Z Coz
Miscellaneous Books
The Manual of Statistics and Stock
exchange Handbook for 1907 is not only
'evised to date, but enlarged in scope by
he addition Of several new departments