New-York tribune., 1902-06-22

Emo. pp. ', 22I Harper & Bros.
| COMMENTS OF A COUNTESS. 12mo. pp. 223
/ John Lane.
Mr. Carey has added one more to the list OF
historical novels which certainly not on the
level of Scott or Dumas, but are well enough
invented and clevery enough written to give
the reader hour or two Of legitimate pleas
ure. He may not have genius, but he possesses
talent, and Monsieur Martin" is, so far as 1t
goes. good book The gentleman who gives it
its title is not that might suggest. French
man, but sturdy Briton who serves as tutor
to a young lady Of noble birth in Sweden We
are. Of course, given to understand by NJ Mar
| tin. his beautiful pupil always calls him,
that the social gulf between them must remain
| impossible. He may love. but he may not
win her. Equally. OF course. Mr.. Carey has
something TO say about this. The latter IS fer
| tile in device and he carries through all but
the very last pages Of his novel before he allows
us 10 see just what he IS going to do with the
final fortunes Of his hero and heroine. We are
/ curious about their fate all along the line, but
( We never impatient, for Mr.. Carey is never
duh Sufficient for the moment, with him, IS
the chapter thereof. 1t may contain a con-
spiracy or some martial episode. it may treat
of love of adventure. but IN every case it Is
| written with delightful spirit. and the CharaC-
ters in it, if not touched with the vitality that
comes from high creative art alone, are suf-
fciently alive and interesting FOR all purposes
Monsieur Martin" Is picturesque it is in the
main credible, and it is entertaining. We hope
to hear more of Mr.. Wymond Carey
The author of The strollers" presents a set
Of characters and scenes more or less unfa-
miliar in fiction. Many of the former belong 10
a band of itinerant actors who travel about
the country by coach in the days OF 'Iippe-
canoe and Tyler Too and the PATRON system
when the land barons of America are on their
last legs. one Of the barons plays the part Of
| the principal villain. The hero is a French sol
der, in exile owing to the disgrace Of his
| brother The heroine, beloved of both these
! gentlemen is the leading actress in the com
pany aforesaid. The scene shifts from place 10
place including New Orleans, where the nero
| inc scores a hit upon the stage and the hero
and his enemy engage in a duel Divers eNclt-
ing experiences are set forth in the novel. when
has a tolerably well made plot and is generally
Interesting. though it might proftably have
| been made a little shorter
Mr.. Arnold makes his hero unearth and
breathe life into the body of the individual
from whom his romance derives its title,
"Iepidus the Centurion" the body being taken
from the English tomb in which it has been
living for many centuries We asked 10
accept the unexplained statement that ii had
not suffered decay and that its discoverer was
able to resurrect it. 1t is as the saying goes
a pretty tall order and Mr.. Arnold is not quite
gifted enough to make US feel much confidence
In his enterprise. His magician comes to regret
his amazing exploit for Lepidus promptly falls
in love with his sweetheart, Callously m'"tlrs
remonstrances with the remark that her sod
had been his in former centuries when it IA
habited another frame. UnhappiIy for the Gen.
turion, the maiden prefers her English lover -
the Roman so the latter posons himself aii
returns to his ancient tomb. The story fails u
carry conviction and is even somewhat duh
| In "Olympian Nights" Mr.. Bangs once more
pays his respects to personases extremely *
allied This time he journeys to the heights r
olympus and foregathers in drolI fashion ~4;t
the immortal gods. These individuals hr dis
plays in situations preposterOus enough, 10
even gives one chapter to the OympiJn
Links" with results that may be imagined
The fooling is sometimes forced, but Mr.. Bangs
has a way with him and the good natur"d
reader will bestow a smile upon the book. lie
will be family amused also by Mr. LeverinS 8
illustrations. Both author and illustrator turn
OLYMPUS into a kind of Waldorf-Astoria ard
they do it with a fairly comic touch.
The anonymous author of Comments of
Countess traverses with a fairly light touch