The Birmingham age-herald., 1902-08-17
BY ANNIE KENDRIck WALKER.

BY ANNIE KENDRlCk WALKER.
 That there still exists a world of ten
 der sentiment and appreciation for wo- man who more than a quarter of cen tury ago was the supreme idol of her day ] is indicated by the almost vehement in- terest her latest book is creating. More than sixteen years have elapsed since the publication of Mrs. Augusta Evans Wilson's At the Mercy of Ti- berius," and yet today the mere an- nouncement that her new book, "A Speck- led Bird" would be among the midsum- mer publications, brought orders suffi- cient to exhaust the first edition of 75,OOO copies. Dillingham;
 This tangible assurance of the hold this distinguished author has upon the read ing world can be but gratifying, when she recalls the furor made in the past by her series of brilliant books, and in contrast ing the present with the past, it is evil dent that even years are powerless to dim the lustre of name once luminous. The south today, in it's recognition of Mrs. Wilson's latest literary achievement, is | merely following the tradition of the old south, and yet under the new regime there is broader world to be appealed to | by the author and new conditions with which she has kept remarkably in touch It is a delicate and arduous task to draw 1 a background of that period known as the l days of reconstruction. but none of the 1 writers of the south have more vividly 1 painted the shadows of those dark days. | In one brief paragraph, the novelist be-
 comes the historian:
 ITO the truly typical southern woman
 who survived the loss of family idols and
 of her country's freedom, for which she | had surrendered them reconstruction, 1 political and social, was no more possible l than the physical resurrection and return
 of slain thousands lying in Confederate 1 graves all over the troubled and ruined l south"
 l There is a tragic under current in 1t all, 1 like a Maeterlinck theme a passionate 1 note of sorrow, a story of intense dra- matic interest that never loosens its hold upon the reader for a moment, and while | it ends happily, one feels to some extent 1 the truth of the words of the black-robed I priest, uttered in preceding chapter: I 'Too late If you take a white flower and inhale its perfume, and then careless l ly drop it where hurrying crowds are sure to trample it in the dust, what hope that StdIcn dS yOu may you VIII ever Inu IL or finding it, be able to restore the torn soiled, ruined petals?'
 The picture presented today of Mrs. Wilson is taken from her latest photo- graph. As is well known, she Is living quietly in Mobile. At her charming home on Government street, she wrote her lat est book.
 "St. Elmo" 'Tnfelice." 'vashti," "At the Mercy of Tiberius," and her other books were written at "Ashleigh." her country seat near Mobile. She yields the most brilliant influence, and 1t is said by those who have seen her recently that her enthusiasm over the publication of her new book was quite irrisistible It Is evident that though the years have left their whitening touch upon her hair, that the soft grey curls frame a face of exquisite strength and charm and that the fine, expressive eyes have retained their beauty. Clad in her gown of rich black silk, with the bit of old lace at her throat and the jewels sparkling here and there. she Is an inspiration to the painter either | for his canvass, or d miniature on old ivory.
 As with all of Mrs. Wilson's previous novels, the scenes of "A Speckled Bird''
 are laid mainly in the south. The story l opens with the childhood of Eglah Kent the heroine, in the home of Mrs Maurice
 her grandmother The latter's daughter
 Marcia, who was Eglahs mother, had | eloped with Judge Allison Kent a New
 Englander, and high official of govern ment just after the war. At the death of 1 his wife, Judge Kent marres a gay New l York woman, the widow of a Mir. Herriot, and whose son by his first marriage be- comes the hero of the romance Interest centers from the beginning of the story about Eglah. whose remarlxa- way that a strong prejudice exists in the childs attitude. She realizes in a vague I way that a strange prejudice exists in the south against her father, and 1t Is this | knowledge that blended with her own idolotrous love for him that developes one of the strongest characters ever created in fiction.
 Upon the death of her grandmother. l Eglah goes with her foster mother to Washington, where her fathers sena- torial career promises to fulfill all the
 ambitions of his daughter, It is her in-
 tense devotion to her father that grad
 ually becomes the dominant factor in her
 life
 ITO help him even in trifes, is my very
 life; he is my world, my all" Is the eni-
 tome of her life.
 That a novelist could have selected q
 more beautiful theme than a daughters a
 devotion and sacrifice for her father. will
 not be questioned, but 1t is only human
 to want to veil the tragedy that revealed
 to Eglah's trusting heart the unscrupu-
 lous nature of her father.
 The author draws a beautiful picture
 of her heroine: Under delicate. level
 brows, her large dark eyes-chataigne in
 some lights, almost black at times-were
 set rather far apart in an oval face.
 whose exquisitely clear, pure pallor was
 stained only by the healthy rich, red of
 slender lips, that had treacherous tr,cl,
 or quivering when any strong emotion
 stirred the depths of her heart. By the
 accepted canons of art and cultured taste.
 her form and features had been adjudged l k.... ..I "