The Birmingham age-herald., 1902-08-17


 idiosyncracy that made the manner of
 her steps, the lifting of head and motion l of hands, unlike other womens"
 ''Is social life fin Washington disappoint- l ing?' some one asked Eglah. That is
 scarcely the right term" she replies
 Life is certainly very brilliant and gay and panoramic, and I enjoy music and | dancing and some dinner parties; above | all. l find keen pleasure in following a spirited debate in the House. or listening to speeches in the Senate, but sometimes | catch myself wondering If this is in- deed all-the veritable kernel of society, politics. diplomacy, or merely the shell partly cracked"
 Such are her observations to Noel Her riot, who in turn discourses upon his | latest scientific experiments.
 "Tell me of them" says Eglah and the author gives wonderful evidence of her own magniflcently developed mind and her grasp of scientific problems by frequent illusions to Investigations that have claimed the attention of the great est scientists of the world.
 Several chapters are devoted to the work of unions and there Is a dramatic scene describing a strike In New York city. Some of the principal characters furnish love story, secondary it is true to that of Eglah and Noel, but not sur passed for intensity.
 
 In a bright amusing way the author draws the type of the advanced woman, the early emancipator who contended for ''her rights"
 And is striking contrast to this type I Is the well-poised young heroine who in expressing herself on the question of wo- mans progress voiced the sentiments of many thinking women Of today, who may | be regarded as somewhat old fashioned | Trp cofx 1cfa
 T have the most affectionate and l jealous regard for every right that in- I heroes in my dover of American woman 1 hood" declares Eglah, q claim and en- | joy the right to be as cultured, as learn ed. as useful ano-if you please-as orna- mental in society and at home as my in- | dividual limitations will permit I have no wrongs, no grievancies, no craving | need to usurp lines of work that will | break down the barriers God set between | men and women. I am not in rebellion l against legal statutes, nor the canons of well-established decency and refinement l in feminine usage, and, finally I am so inordinately proud of being a well-born southern woman, with a full complement of honorable great grandfathers and l blue -blooded, stainless great grandmoth- l CTS, that I have neither pretext nor in- clination to revolt against mankind"
 And to this her northern listener re- | plies: Miss Kent, you have rather pret- | ty eyes, but you are so Steeped in south ern-what do you call it-dolce far niente | or laissez faire, or semi-stagnation of | soul that you are too lazy to open them wide enough to see the thrilling vista of woman's triumphs?'
 But Miss Kent remains unconvinced. The scene changes from Washington to Aix les Bains, and months later the Rents return to the old plantation which Eglah had not seen since she was a child. As the author truthfully says very few typical southern homes represent Ing wealth, liberal education and cul- tured artistic taste when 1861 dawned, have survived the jagged wounds of war, the still more destructive bayonet- loaded horror of reconstruction" and the merciless mildew of poverty that tarnished ante-bellum splendor. And how beautifully does the author describe the atmosphere that clings about these old time mansions:
 "The forbid tide of up to date fiippancy broke and ebbed from the tall iron gates of the old house on the hi4.. Here de- | cadence was excluded, and one coming into the long-closed mansion inhaled vague, haunting aroma, as if old furni- | ture, glass, china, books, paintings and silver had been sprinkled with powder | ed sandal wood, lavendar and rose leaves l | atmosphere of hereditary racial pride"
 The old house on the hill suggests to
 her poetic fancy a cabinet of exquisite l miniatures, rich mosaics and carved ivory, where the witching glamour of mellowing centuries hovers.
 | And 1t Is to this southern paradise | that the author again brings her heroine. Years, she tells us had made no alter ation save that fond, trusting child | cane back a sadly anxious woman, fronting the world with calm defiance | but shivering silently under a numbing shadow of breeding dread that time might deepen, but could not dispel. | It is there that the dramatic scene takes place between Eglah's father and | her lover, and furnishes an opportunity | for the author to again demonstrate
 that she has lost none of her old time
 skill in the art of story telling.
 But without dwelling upon the thrilling
 climax that follows, the distinctly dram
 attic incident of the book, we may here
 turn the pages when the shadows have
 lifted at last, for Eglah 'poor little
 speckled bird beating out her life"
 Surely no other author would have
 fiuttered a spray of rose colored blossoms
 across our tear-dimmed eyes:
 "A gust of wind shook the minosa, and
 on her bowed head drifted the pink silk
 flaments powdering her brown coil and puffs Sitting beside her on the
 bench, he said. as his brilliant, happy
 eyes studied her face: will you please tell me when you began really to care
 for meT "
 What can that matter now?" answers
 Eglah. ''Do not make me look back into
 shadows I wish to forget. All our light
 shines ahead"
 Over the page there seems to fiutter