The Washington times., 1901-07-21

last-named country being a giant negr
known as "Moke, who is subject to FIRE
quent attacks of religious frenzy, an,
therein makes things interesting. Tn
hero is the reverse of gallant on one &C
casion. for on being decoyed into a deI
OF ruftians by a beautiful Chilean, h
saves himself from dangerous stab b,
swinging the girl around in front of him
which is not at all what any orthodox
hero would do, but very much what
sailor would he likely to do if he were II
just that sort of predicament Havin,
been rescued through the Intervention o
Moke' and others. he shows no furthe
interest in the girl but leaves her lyinl
on the floor and takes him self OFF: all o
which is refrcshingly unlike the ordinary
adventure novel. Otherwise the book is
not especially remarkable CNew York
Mcclure, Phillips & Co s125)
"on Peters Island" by Arthur R.
ropes and Mary E. Ropes. is one
| OF the few exceptions which prove
the rule that collaboration is not
| good in novel-writing 1t is a story OF
isussian intrigue. police work, and social
life, capitally written and original in con-
| cep' Ion The characters are cosmopoli-
tan, but the atmosphere Possesses a real
ism seldom found in novels whose scene
is laid in the Cars Kingdom. but which
| are the work of natives of other coun-
! tries. One feels that the people here
| dealt with are not puppets or types, -
but real men and women.
The conventional hero of the book is
Walter Anson, a young American in the
unromantic business of oil refining: but
by all odds the most interesting character
in Stanislaus Lubinski, a Polish adven-
turer, brother to the heroine, Sasha Lu-
binski This man. sort of translation
of Tito Melema. is perfectly drawn; there
is not a false touch of his whole discred-
liable downward career He is good and
bad by turns and by impulse; there is
nothing too vile for him to do, yet in his
better moods he deceives the very elect
In fact, he is just the sort of sinner who
seems predestined to deceive the elect
by impressng them that with their help
he will turn from his wicked ways and
live; but the trouble with such man is
that unless a firm and judicious hand is
continually kept on his coat collar he will
not stay out of mischief and there is sell
dom anyone with interest, affection, or
strength of duty sufficient for that sort
of police service.
There is a pretty English girl with a
somewhat underbred family about her;
there is genial German, Anson's part
ner: and among the Russian characters
are several Nihilists, a girl medical stu
dent who forces on Lubinski a loyalty as
fine as it Is undeserved, and a rich and
rascally Russian who is rival of the
Anson-Kaufman firm and serves as the
heavy villain, of the piece. Anarchist
meetings are vividly described, and sever
al characteristic scenes of st. Peters
burg are pictured without being dragged
in forcibly. There are several thorough
ly dramatic chapters in the development
OF the plot, and altogether the book will
be good reading for anyone who likes
skillful combination of incident, plot, and
character-drawing, with novelty to boot.
CNew York: Charles Scribner's Sons.
sL50)
"a Century of Caste" by A. n. Water
man, is brief story, which can hardly
be called fiction. unless some art has been
used to put it into the shape of literature;
for it bears obviously the stamp of truth.
1t is the life story of an old negro woman,
told by herself, and including incidents of
days, of the reconstruction
era and of recent years. 1t sounds as If
taken directly from the lips of the woman |
herself. Chicago: NJ. A. Donohue & Coz |
"A Summer Hymnal,"- by John Trot- |
wood Moore, is a book of nature sketches |
by a Tennesseean, who seems inclined to |
follow in the footsteps of the author of |
"A Kentucky Cardinal" 1t is well to re-
member that books like that owe their
success largely to their novelty, and that
novelty is a thing which cannot happen
.wice in the same form.
To most people, it will be more or less
lifficult to discover what on earth Mr..
Moore is trying to say. Some of his
sketches are prefaced by brief poems. of
which one is entitled "a Smile in the
Dark" and runs in this wise:
ieaven- -brewed nectar from the eternal hills,
Essence Of truth and sweet benehcence-
Soul of the summer cloud and winter rills
Distilled in glorious munihcenee.
symbol of all pureness and holding up
The eye of nature to the face Of form,
The perfumed lake within the 1ily's cup,
The white blanched cheek Of ocean in the storm.
hin mist yelling round the cheek of morn,
Spirit OF rainbows and the evening skies,
lung in rich drapery when the stars are horn
And peep from out with wondering baby eyes.
'urity, by angels lent in globes OF love
which God has sent from heaven above.
To an Artesian Well.
No, gentle reader; this is not a practical
oke: this is serious, and there is no
loubt that Mr.. Trotwood Moore really
meant it when he wrote it. 1t would be
90 difficult for mere reviewer to ex- 4;
lain what 1t was he meant, and it is
oubtful If any explanation he could give
you'd improve matters at all.
In another poem Mr.. Moore declares
haf 's'Th, Jewel that lives is the soul o" |
nd that ones pedigree should be gold, '
nd he associates the two in rhyme. 1t
nay be that a gold or at least a gilded !
edigree is the only means of securing {
soul. but somebody ought to tell this I
uthor that gold and soul cannot be made G
0 rhyme without breaking something.
n still another poem we are informed s
hat from lifc's dreaming comes its true {
ain. 1t is not strange that this poet thinks
}. The kind of dreaming he does would
i've anybody pain. philadelphia: Henry J
:. Coates Coz
IAN Englshman's Love Letters: Being
ne Missing Answers to an English Wo-
ian's Love Letters" is the title Of a
ook which has just appeared anonymous
:, like it's predecessor. The title is a
isnomer. These letters never were writ
IN by any man; they are the work of a
oman, and an American woman at that | q
will be more than most peoples pa
ence can endure to read them through |
1T possibly those who read the previous
ook can manage this one. CNew York:
rank F. Lowell Book Company
THE Road to Ridgeby's," by Frank
urlingame Harris is a story of the Mid
e West somewhat in the manner of