New-York tribune., 1902-05-25
FICTION.
THREE STORIES OF AMERICAN LIFE,


4 Bros
THE DESERT AND THE sOWN; ny Mary Hal Hal /
lock Foote I2mo, PIP. 5l3. Houshton. Miiin
THE MINORITY. BY Frederick Trevor Hill /
i5mo. pp i06. Frederick \. Stokes co.
TIN, American who believes that the only
good Indian is a dead one will not care for
Mr. GarIands novel. for it presents in forclble /
fashion the case of the United states Govern
rncnt and the Red Man against not Law. Order
and Progress. but. illegally encroaching settlers
border ruiiians and calous demagogues. with
the ethical aspect of their relations it is not
necessary to deal in this place: the subject Of
our concern At the moment is the authors sue
cass in telling a spirited story. Such success he
has made The book holds attention TO the end.
an attention due not so much TO its love motive
though that is sufficiently interesting as 10
its dramatic episodes OF life on the reservation
The young officer who succeeds as agent the
drunkard accused OF systematically thieNihH
from the Indians is a fine fellow Of the usual
military type and II is conceivable that he
might work in the aboriginal nature and habit
the revolution herein described AT any rate
his efforts to help his wards. to teach them and
to defend them against civilized" greed. dis
honesty and hatred go to make up a hlghiy en-
tertanng book. Mr. Garland IL at home In the
region he traverses here; his work is true TO
its material and is therefore piece OF good
art 1t is the best thing he has done since
Main Travelled Roads"
The Desert and the Sown' is good story
rather overweighted with psychological ahalysis
The is laid partly in the East ana parity
in the West. We first introduced TO Il PAIR
Of lovers whose marriage is soon to take place
but whose affairs delayed by a hunting
expedition to which the prospective bridegroom
is committed This young gentleman Is OF
slightly morbid turn of mind, and before he
pungcs into the wilds he tells his sweetheart
something OF his family history. From this
point on the reader is Interested less in the
romance of Paul BOgardus and his MOya than
in the tragic experience OF the formers father
and mother Old Adam Bogardus orig
inay a farmland and married the daughter OF
his employer, running away with her from her
home the Hudson. Ultimately they We're
separated under very peculiar circumstances
from which flow the likewise rather peculiar
incidents Of this novel, The author relies upon
coincidence for the working out Of her plot she
may indeed, be said to have abused that time
worn eXpedent of the novelist But she has the
narrative gift and, moreover, she has put a
fresh and interesting atmosphere into her book
The latter has quality of its and holds
the reader. We regret, however, that the author
should have attempted a vein of analysis quite
beyond her capacities. The mental states of the
hero and his parents exploited with an
of the fabric. but the discussion of them is often
obscure and always Intellectual In the effort to
be subtle Mrs. Foote soon gets out of her depth
inspiring a fervent wish that she may in the
future be content to tell her stories in straight
forward fashion. simply for the sake of their
dramatic potentalties.
Mr.. Hill also goes far toward spelling an in
teresting novel by dint of trying to do too often
that for which he has not as yet sufficient
aptitude THE Minority" is a capital story of
life in New-York among men concerned in i'm
portant industrial and business enterprises. cap
ital whenever the author confines himself to
mechanical and even dull in most of the far too
numerous passages which he fills out with con-
versatiOn. The talk in this book is indeed
almost never natural and spontaneous. 1t is the
talk not of living people but OF people in Il
book. Yet the reader who makes up his mind to
regret his good nature, for the book is on other
accounts, clever and interesting. Though the
hero, John Kennard. is highly conventional
figure. the altruistic employer familiar in a hun
dred novels. his endeavor to do the best he can
for his men is put in light. Though he
falls in love, after the good old fashion with
the daughter of the man who betrays his con-
idence, and she is brought upon the scene at
just the right moment for the proper develop
nent of his fortunes. their love story is saved
from being too hackneyed by the same element