The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1901-11-10

end orders sample collins to be sent to
him--that is, all except the hero, of course,
! who brings about the doxnfaH of the
/. Jsguar,'' as the Red Chancellor is play
fully called. In the last scene OF all,
Tyrrell, the Englishman hero, HOSTS tho
Chancellor with his own petard by turning
against his emisary the poisoned weapon
With which he is seeking Tyrrell's life;
and though the villain seems at first to
take this reversal OF functions rather
quietly, he makes up for i. at last by
furnishing a. picture which we have rare
~ seen equalled in the works of Monk
Lewis or any of the old blood-and-t
DER romancers. Here it is:
The face, which had been hidden from
me as he lay, was now dark purple, al
most black. The blazing eyes protruded
from their sockets, the swollen lips, jet
black, were drawn into a srightful grin;
the man vas a. human being no longer;
it seemed as though he were already a.
devil, as hideous as the Imagination OF
man ever conceived"
Those who care for this kind of litera-
ture cannot do better than read the
romance of Sir William Magnay. Bart.
There is plenty Of it to be found therein.
j. D.
ANNIE DEANE. BY A. F. Slade.
Brentano.s, New York.
8 Mr.. a. F. Slade, whose name is new
in fiction, gives the subtitle of "a Way
side Weed" to his novel called Annie
2Deane." The applicability of this sub
title is questionable. unless it means
somee--Ang beyond the grasp OF the pres
ent reviewer; for Annie is very far in
deed from being a weed On the con-
tray, she is in some respects a. Very
beautiful flower. though this portion Of
no NV, ne
by Inheritance.
The story is one of the betrayal Of q
young girl by a man whose name she
does not even know; of her determine
ton to prove that she is not in truth
that which she has heard herself called.
"a ruined woman; Of her success; of the
meeting Of father and son, at first I'M
knowingly to both of the relation in
which they stand: of the subsequent gain
ing OF knowledge by first the lather, then
the mother. and last of all the son. and
of the problem of life that then presents
itself. A. very difficult problem, for IA
Their and son have learned to love each
other, and the intense resentment of the
younger man is tempered by the affection
md gratitude which the elder has Won
from him. We have no space here to
detail the complexities of the prob.em
but we must protest against the way in
which it is ended-not solved-by the Ge3tt
of the father MIR. Slade had no right
to state such a question if he Lad 70
answer to propose and could only solve
the puzzle in Alexandrine fashion.
The book, while bearing evident Signs
iof the influence of Esther Waters,
is we'll and at times powerfully Er.c.e,l
1t is not a. book which we personally al
mire; but We are quite ready TO admit
that it has many claims to popularity
among those who believe in problem-flc-
ton. There is commercially little melo-
drama. or suggestiveness, and herci1 Nj"
Slade has avoided two very dangerous
and alluring shoals, upon which the wors
of more than one author of ability mas
been wrecked.
o. n. IS.
THE BATTLE INVISIBLE. BY Eleanor
C. Reed A. c. McClurg & Company,
Chicago.
In very attractive dress comes to us
volume Of stories by d. new author, Flea
nor c. Reed. Had the author done her
work half as well as the publishers did
theirs, we should have been compelled
to accord high praise to the general re
suit. But this is not the case. Yet
at the outset of our criticism let us own
to a distaste for dialect stories which
prejudices us against any fiction which
is cast in this mold. Our prejudice may
be overcome by fine work independent OF
the dialect: but it stands in the way of
our enjoyment OF even the best of tits
description, and, therefore,. our readers
must take what we have to say of Miss
Reeds work with allowances because OF
our dislike to the method which she em-
ploys To our mind the five stories
contained in the book are wearisome in the
extreme All the characters talk III
dialect that exasperates us to the point
of madness. Besides this, there is a
strained simplicity throughout, which is
offensive to us, because of evident arti-
ficiality. 1t is as if Miss Reed, upon
sitting down to write, said to herself:
"Go to now, let us be simple, since sim
plicity is admired and she straishtWay
conjured up in her imagination all the
inanties that she could compass. This
is our impression of the book; others
may declare that the stories are idyllic.
We have no doubt that the, tales are true
to nature; bu it is a nature which to us
presents no points of interest. All Miss
Reeds characters are rural; and thei1