The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1901-10-20

s. u
after a page or two. Altogether. while
we see in Mr.. Philpotts no successor to
Mr.. Blackmore, we recognize him as
pleasant and skiIlfuI writer, and we can
cordially commend his book to the gem
eral reader. L. L. d.
NJ STRANGEST CASE. L c. Page
& Co., Boston.
This is an exciting book. From the
first page TO the last the reader is carried
Forward through a host of exciting in
cdents to a climax which. though con-
ventional, is none the less satisfactory.
The story opens in Singapore. There
three EnSlishmen meet and plan the re-
covery of an immense treasure nidd' n
in the ruins of a Burmese Temple. in
this abandoned temple the adve l-lrerS
find d treasure of enormous value. They
have not time Is take it all, out escsFe
from the treasure chamber with jewels
valued at almost million d.,iI:t:5. Oae
adventurer betrays the >iust = iso;,Hti N
him by the others, secures the jewels
. nd fees His sleeping comrades are
attacked by the Chinese, ana tear
fuI tcrtures in which Seo:in Leae
has his tongue torn out by ~ roots, the
I.itw;itel. is blinded. the sretcn ID I'D
vent,.i ers are turned loose in thu fest
IN f4ayle is pursued g cry
tutpts- of the British aruy SS-
clpes those upon his track nsi 81
reaches London. All this forms the IN
PRODUCTION to the story proper. This
commences with the arrival of Kitwater
and Codd at the office of George Fairfax
tn. detective The aim of kitwater ana
Coed is to find Hayle. recover the ]e"elS
of which they were robbed, and 20 tes'l
out the tongue and blind the eyes OIL
the thief. They engage fairfax to tina
him. Then commences the hunt to which
the pages of the book are devoted haSie
finds the detective upon his track polS
and resourcefu1 as he is he cannot shake
the human sleuth-hound from hls sport.
Turn and double as he may. FalrfaS
is always hot uron the scent. The trail
leads in and out of the purlieus OF Lon
don and then across the channel to Paris
Though baffied for d moment, the de-
tective soon discovers the hiding place
of the fugitive. Now the pursued turns
upon the pursuer For a minute II
| seems that victory is in the hands OF.
Havle. The French police come to the
rescue of their English comrade, and
once again the bold criminal is forced to
ay. Pursuit is hot. The French and
the English police are hardly day be-
hind him, and now kitwater and Codd
join the search-party. 1t would seem as
If these two mutlated men could do lit
tie, but the dumb leads the blind and
the blind speaks for the dumb BY
their persistent effort spurred on by their
| thirst for vengeance they succeed in
| reaching Hayle before the police. and
! as the officers of the law arrive. Kit
| water plunges into the sea with Hayle
! In his grasp. Death to both and the
! suicide of Codd ends the story. For
| those who like this sort of a book fur
! Their recommendation of it is unneces-
sary, c. a. c.
| KIDS OF MANY COLORS. By Grace
Duffie Baylor and Ike Morgan: jamie
son-Higgins Company. Chicago.
In the world of books there are few
| products so common as books written
flor children and no product SO I'M
| common as books suitable for children.
! There are those, of course, who will take
| exception to this statement, those who
| boast OF their optimistic view of writers
| of to-day; but if they Will steal into some
chid's nursery they will find that the
mother of the Little one buys it the sto-
ries of writers now long dead; or, where
the child itself has its choice between
the books of modern and earlier writers,
they will find the books of the later writ
ers new and bright and clean enough to
have been the possession of some angel.
while the Robinson Crusoes and Mother
Hubbards and other stories of long ago
are thumb-marked and torn and some
of them actually devoured, as if the lit
tie ones found them sweet enough to eat.
Why is ah:s state of affairs? These
earliest writer's possessed the minds of
men ans. could comprehend. at least in
part, the needs of the child mind; while
many of the later writers of juvenile
fiction seem if they themselves haG
not yet passed the period of infancy. We
have before us book for children that
is in marked contrast to the NATIVITY
of juveniles of to-day; it is interesting,
it is amusing. it is a child's book suita-
BILE for a child. The kids of Many
Coors." by Grace Duffie Baylor and Ike
Morgan, will come as close to being a
substitute for a nurse as it is possible
for manufactured article to be. The
pictures, bright in colors, pleasing in de-
sign, amusing in subject, will employ
the attention of the child who is too
young to read or understand the text.
The little bits of stories in verse will in
terest the slightly older chile: if read to
him while he has the pictures before
him; while the older child. and that
even includes the reviewer, will find the
book not only readable, but entertaining