The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1901-07-07
Daughter of y y
- ~ - The Velh.

Ont Of miasma arising from various i'm,
moral cesspools and several auagmres
OF evil SASH Marden has materiallEcd
4 story which he has entitled "A Daughter
OF the vedt.r II the reader believes the
smallest fractional part OF the spirit and
| deed Of Mr.. Mardeu's depictlous OF life tn
| South Africa, the conviction Is sure TO FOL,
low that the Trausvaal might better be
swept on the fa,e of the earth by SOME
kind Of proydentiai plague II would have
been bad enough TO picture Beer and Kanlr
as hrutally dissolute, but the crisis In
sensuallsm Is reached In tho character OF
tho white man--an English minister OF tho
gospel.
The parson. Rev. Mowcray wrixon.
breaches against the social sin one certain
sunday afternoon, and at the same tImo
imposes penalty upon native Hiuha
girl Tor such commission. aud forthwith,
under the promise OF marriage ANA stress
Of confessed passion himself becomes gull.
~ while the sermon Is warm Ia his memory
the victim OF his ardor being the daughter
Of wel-todo Boor farmer. Added TO the
parsons lustful qualification is his cold
| ami deliberate decision that he cannot
marry Gertrude Richards because she can.
not In any way conduce 10 his church post
tlon and promotion lie goes through a
10, Of sclf-argument IN which lust Of am.
biticn and sexual lust are about evenly
n'atched--at last the former gains the ~
tendency and the parson then becomes tho
calculating vlliaia,
massacre removes the parents OF Ger.
trude Richards from the scene but she Is
Nuk -kn In, -
hut whore her child--and tho parsou's-is
born This woman acdualnts Rev Mr..
WriNou with the fact Of his parcntage and
he rcpudates an responsibility, but bar.
gains for secrecy Gertrude is Frustrated
with riief and disgrace, and WHOM she rc.
covers Nhe discovers the loss Of her babe.
Quite alone, and believing the parsou
prompted the theft OF her child. she dis
appears, loses herself In the Heterogeneous
pop llatlcn,
The child, sfterVgrd known as Joyce
Hcissmann turns out TO be the daughter
OF the yeldt" Naturally Of an exalted ma
ture. she is like lily on the bosom OF A
gangrcnous pond, since she stands alone as
selfrcApectlng aud strong enough TO hold
herself above the general condition OF hu-
man depravity. Mothers sell their daugh
ters into lives of shame and white men are
the most profitable purchasers.
80
In duo course Joyce discovers that she IA
not child Of the yrau ana that she is en-
titled II an annual allowance, as well as Il
bank account hers through beaucsts OF
those who had given her care during In
fancy. Joyce has admirers enough and to
spare, and among thcm she finds true
lover that is rather relief in the possess
sion of deccncy IN language and an average
measure of honor. joyce also hnds her
mother. in position Of some omineuce,
and she also ntcets her father, who nro
cccds to make love to his daughter The
pnrson drifts upon his own leycl and tries
to climb above It through a reconciliation
with the mother OF his child
Into this scene the author might have IN
stilled truly dramatic emotion and sItun
ton. Bu Mr. Niarden falls weak In this
fine opportunity Tor expression he docs
much better I'm dclineations nj the subtle
creeping of sin, years before, through the
parson's veins Joyce comes into her hap
piuess In more ways than one aud Joyce
mother has her restitution as far as posi-
bic
Eut this Is no compensation to the reader
for the useless hlasphemy and the animal
ish passion thar trails over the 400 pages
OF this story-a story that leaves viclons
odor In the brain.
Mr. Marden has Cue use of words. es'
pcciuuy In sentences thar abandon them
selves 10 social passion.
C'paughter of the veldt" hy Basil Mar
den Henry Holt 4 Co., New York;