The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1901-10-27

How can thy spirit ever clod-like lie?
T. A. K.
FICTION.
THE. LOVER F'CGITIVES. By John Fla
nemore. The J. 3. Lipplncott Company,
Philadelphia.
4 very zvou romance OF its kind is The
Lover rLSiLlves, by ,john tlnneInore.
we say OF It's KIND because there is IN
it very little beyond lncldent-DalGe, MUIR
DER anu suuuen aedtn---wniie the nero ana
vliiain are very conventional, tie hero be-
ing THE best swordsrnan III England" a
pnrase which We seem TO have heard be-
tore and the villain a cool, calculating,
Sneering nobleman who in his way loves.
the betnrothed OF the hero, puiSues her
with his hateful attentions, tries to en-
trap her by marrying her to his servant.
who is his illegitiinate talt-brother, and
SO greatly resembles him and generally
makes himself disa greeable Incidentally,
he fights several times with the hero. who
is named George Ferrers, always, Of
course, getting the worst of it. Ferrers
and Cicely, the lady Of his love- have got
ten. into trouble for protecting some fugi-
tives, sympa thizers with Monmouth in his
Inflated attempt to secure the throne,
and thence have themselves become fugi-
tiVes from justice. The villain, whose
title is the Earl of kesgrave, has an able
tool in his servant-brother, already re-
ferred to, this man being almost as good
a sWordsman as the hero, while the Earl
!; himself is a master of his weapon; it is
really astonishing how many splendid
swordsmen there We're in England and
France, according to the romancer Be
twaGn them fba E"a,.l. md Mt
Colin, keep Captain Ferrers so busy fight
ing them that lie has, but little time tor
anything else: but he, of course, always
manages to foil the dark plots against his
life and the virtue ofsthe woman he loves.
Thus it will readily be seen that we
I'D III book is conventional. But
1t Is a very good sort of convention, and
those who like stories of brawl and duel
plJ- s.llu escsspe w,- ~ l-lli7, by
reading "Tlla Lover Fugitives.
l<-ARADAC, COUNT OF .GERsAY- By
X s. Hesketh Prichard The Frederick
A Stokes Company, New York.
Instances of successful collaboration in
fiction are rare that of Besant ana Rice
being the most prominent; and collabora-
ton between mother. and son is, as lar as
we are a aware, known only in one instance,
mat OF H. Ii6ShetI IIIcliditi IiiSi l e
suit, as shown in their latest boon 'har-
adac, Count Of Gersay,' is admirable. The
work is q romance, as may be judged
from its title; but it is not a swashbuck-
Ter romance, made up of Tits and duels
and adventures, though neither are these
concom1tants lacking. 1t is q story Of
love, and is written in a vein that for
height and purity of thought has been
rarely equaled of late years The motif
Of the book is simple and not especially
original; Naradac, Count of Gersay, is
shown the picture of Algitha, daughter OF
Earl Agar, who is accused Of sorcery
because she will not wed and is condemn
ed to death unless she can find cham-
pion. Karadac falls in love with the por-
trait and hastens to offer himself as
champion for the lady; but on his way he
is struck blind by lightning. His place is
taken in the lists by his brother-in-arms,
Goyault who wins the battle; but he is
beaten in a vet more important battle.
for he yields to love for Allitha, and she
in turn loves him. They wed; but they
lear TO toll 1<aradacy, There is one Gun
dred, a woman of unlovely face but high
soul, who loves Ilaradac but whom he
does not love: and she is married. to him.
he in his blindness. believing that his
BRIDE is Algitha. The deception is sue
cessfully carried on for awhile: but Kara
dac RECEIVERS his sight, and then comes
woe. However. all eEdS as we'll as may be
under the possibilities of the case. though
to some readers the ending may seem un-
satisfactory A. G..
THE LAlRDS LUCK. BY GO" Charles
Scrlbner's Sons, New York.
Mr.. A. T. Quiller-Couch, better and
mere briefly known as o." calls his latest
book THE Laird's Luck, and Other Fire
side Tales" we are unable to see either
the luck or the especial aptncSs OF the
tales TO the fresde. This, however, is
but a small matter: the chies point Of
concern lies in the interest of the contents
of the book. The ia terest is there. There
are nine stories-the mystic number-aad
each of them is enjoyable, while one or
two are enthralling. The Lairds Luck, -
the title story, is a strange, weird story
OF q Scottish uperstition-which, how
ever the author assumes to be something
more than a superstition Three Men Of
bada jos" is a strong. il somewhat vague,
story of the siege of Badajos; the denoue-3
mcnt is unsatisfactory being far less
nowerful than much that has preceded it,
but this fault of anti-clinaN is tla. only
one that can be found with the story.
THE Two Scouts" tells some Of the adj.
ventures of Manuel MCNEIL, an agent in
the Secret Service of Great Britain dur
ing the PeninsuIar campaigns. .Midsum-
rner Fires which is full Of a subtle
pathos that is in "Q's" best style; Cap
tain Dick and Captain Jacka" is a CAPT
tally-told story OF the sea. or. rather, Of
the English channel; it is one of those
themes in which our author is at his best,
and he makes the most of his opportuni-
ties throughout 1.-THE Poisoned Ice.
which follows is. PERHAPS. the finest of
the tales. The remaining stories. DAT
fet's Vengeance .AJareerv of Lawhib-
bet' and "Phoebus on Halzanhron." are
all interesting, the last-named being writ
ten ina vein that is not common with
20 :, All in all. the collection Is an ex-