The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-01-13


young women. Boston: L. O. Page G.
Co. $500
THE Archbishop and the Lady is a
! story of modern French life by Mrs.
Schuyler Crowninshield The scene is an
old half-ruiI ed chateau. formerly an abb
bey and the heroine the daughter of an
American mother and step-daughter OF a
Russian general, which is the reason why
the mother answers throughout the book
to the name of Mamasha. The heroine
herself has been married twice. first to
the old Italian duke who left her chateau
and fortune and was obliging enough 10
die on his welding day and second to
Spanish gentleman with a mania for IN
vention, who answers TO the canine soorl-
quet of Bruno. In the chateau are gath
cred French, Russian English, ltaiian,
and American guests of various charac-
ters and castles when the story opens,
and the one attractive personality amc ns
the cosmopolitan lot of them is the Duel
| ess Alike, who moves about in Russ'Hn
headdress shaped like halo, and an AR
of incomprehensible sadness. There IS
also a preterlaturally precocious child
called Gartha. daughter OF Alixes de-
ceased sister and a jockey-like parsonage
known as the Rastaquouere, who has
| clothes like rainbow and manners ike
circus clown. Gartha's remarks are al
ways refreshing and viyacious. and gen
| orally bright she is the American enfant
| terrible, with French complications.
To this remarkable mixture, which
| somehow reminds one of certain curiously
! compounded rench rechauffes, enter a
| young American collegian, athlete, and
man-about-toWn, who, the reader IN
| stinctively feels, is destined to iall IN
| love with Alike as soon as opportunity IS
| given him. He is, however, kept busy for
| the first half of the book in eavesdrop-
ping-there is no other word for it. he Is
continually finding himself or being put,
| in places where he is not supposed TO pc,
| and overhearing conversations not intend
| ed for his ears. and looking through WIN
dows of rooms where secret performances
are going on. He manages to do all TINS
| in a perfectly innocent and nonchalant
way. but 1t is almost impossible TO De
| lieve that an ordinarily sensible person
could get into quite so many peculiar po-
sitions in the course of week as MT.
John Quentin does. Finally, however
during lull in the eavesdropping, he does
fall in love with Alike, wholly undeterred
by the fact that she is the wife of come
body else 1t appears that a certain we'll
fed Archbishop has seen this coming, at
about the same time as the reader dld,
and is anxious to prevent 1t, and all That
dignitary of the Church can do, in
nice, well-bred way. he does. IL comes
at last-the husband having conveniently
committed suicide on account OF having
| been discovered in q career OF crime-to a
sort of duel between the Archbishop and
the American. The character drawing IN
this book-some of it's extremely good;
but the hero is certainly the weak point.
New York: Mcclure, Phillips Co.
s1.50)
''With HOOPS of Steel" is story of
life In New Mexico, by Florence Finch
Kelly. and IL is one of the best bits of
work of its kind which can be found
In recent fiction. 1t Is full OF incident.
picturesque description, and fun, and the
local color is perfect. The three principal
characters are cowboys. and Texans. or
course. one is an Irishman, with all the
yivacity responsiveness, recklessness, ana
eccentricity of the Celtic temperament,
and he answers to the name or NICK
Ellhorn. The second, Tom futile. is less
inventive and dashing but not less plucky
soul, and the third, the leader of the
trio. and the hero of the book so far as
II has one. is Emerson Mead. Westerner
with a streak of New England caution
and coldness in him. There are two or
three exciting chapters In the course OF
the romance in which the interest Is
skillfully sustained, the best of them, per-
haps. being the NARROWING of a tender
foot" in a lonesome mountain ravine, by
two rascals, and mis- wandering in the
desert after escaping from them. The
author is evidently thoroughly familiar
with the scenes which she describes, and
the desert wastes of New Mexico may,
when the next literary map of the United
States is made, be considered as staked
out by her One of the 'cieverest features
of the novel is the number of apparently
disconnected incidents, all interesting in
themselves. which are brought in and are
afterward seen to have each its proper
place In the development of the plot.
In fact. the naturalness of this plot, cou-
pied with its dramatic quality, is the re-
maTkable thing about the story. There
is a Chinamans queue in the book, which
detached from the original owner) figures
so prominently that it may almost be
called a character. The illustrations of
the book-by Dan Smith-also deserve
more than passing comment. Nothing
since Remington's work first appeared has
equaled them. They are thoroughly in
dividual in type, each is a work of art,
and each, while suited to the text, has
a strength and charm of Its own, which is
quite Independent of its connection with
the story. 1t is to be hoped that this
artist will illustrate more tales of West
ern life, for he can certainly do it SUI
perbly. indianapolis: The Bowen Merrill
Company. S1.50)