The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-10-19
NEWS. OF BOOK WORLD
rs
Kate Douglas Wissln's Study III, Character
Developments ut s. ian. e client Story
4 New ( Zealand Horrors In Flction--lAn-
other Historical Romance by Weynlan.

girl N the making, or rather in the
groWlng-of such does Rebecca Of Sunny
prook arm, +3by Kate Douglas aWiggin,
tell. fMirandy'n', Sawyer, the aunt of Re.
beccas RoWera .Is rlda Il, : who was one. Of =
family OF seNen, did not zeal late to be the
maxim of any child Y when she wrote to
Mrs. Randall to send a sister Of 'Rebecca, Z
to her'sShomes to live. But: the mother sent
| ftepecGa, Pee cause It might be the maxim
or er,s.i;Gand then, Miranda's .'caIlations''
made little difference to the mother who
was too; far away to feel their effects,
RepeccaE as a piece of raw feminine ma
| terlalTsomeWhere under the age Of 10 was
ABOUT. as quaint "a bit of humanity as f1c-
tlon, or history for that matter, tells of,
Wnen: she set;o for her aunt s--her sec
ond journey. She knew her first little trim
away from home had; Ebeen a Journey >
because she and: her mother had carrie ID
their night gowns, On the stage coach
trip to- her saunt's she rode with the driver
necauses thepegWas mo extra; charge and
she cpHlds seeEthings and talk to the driy-
er She did both. She was telling Mr..
Cobb; the driver, of a snake charmer in q
circus parade she. had seen "She was
So beautiful beyond compare, MI Cobb"
said Rebecca;; :"that you had to swallow
Jumps in your throat when you looked at
her, and little cold feelings: crept nm and
down your baclx.'' : = =, : :.
~Rebecca had a way Of putting her
thoughts into rhymes and one Of the
thlngs that had been beaten into her
childish mind was the need of economy
IN order to pay the mortgage on the farm.
Ihls thought one day took shape thus:
Rise my soul, strain every nerve,
Thy mortgage to remove, - .-...,
Gain thy mothers heartfelt thanks,
Thy fsmilys grateful love.
Ihls is the raw material which the au-
thor takes to mold into young womanlood
In her narrative. The development Of
character Is portrayed delicately, but with
hrm, true strokes, not by PSYCHOLOGICAL
analysis, but by a. succession of important
tho sometimes apparently trivial Incl
dents in the girls. life. The art of the
writer is nowhere obtrusive.
@Rebecca and her 'chun1,'' for instance
out of: the goodness Of their, unselfish lit
tie hearts, set out to sell soap. so that
a poor family: may obtain a BANQUET lamn
(qu1te necessary article of furniture
among. the very poor), as a premium
The two take turn about in calling at the
houses as they come to them. At one of
the houses which it falls to the lot of
Renecca to try is a not very young man,
a. visitor. - ~.
do you need any soap?" queries Re-.
becca. -
s:''Do look as If l. did?'' comes the
counter question. ~..
Rebecca: bushes and tries to explain and
the upshot Of pleasant little dialog is
1A1etITl1lS young 1Ildu SuQOGnly says: well,
all right; I'll take 800 cakes'' Rebecca
RoWena Randall is SO surprised that she
takes a. step, backward, steps off the edge
OF the porch and falls over. backward into
a clump. of lilac bushes. She calls the
young man Mr. Aladdin when she has
recovered herself and fully grasps the
good fortune that has come thru her to
her friends who so sorely need a banquet
lamp, and Mr.. Aladdin, he remains to her
IN more than name to the end of the book.
Then returned missionary comes to
town and there Is a meeting and Rebecca
IS called upon without warning to pray.
1t is: her first prayer in public, but it is
worth the reading Of the whole book Just
to be caught by the spirit Of that prayer.
ana all the time Rebecca is growing
nearer and nearer to winsme woman
hood. At last she reaches her graduation
DAY, at boarding school, a girl you are
glad to have known, even in book, al
most too good to be believed in, if YOU
haven't known at least one such girl in
real life. s'- -