The sun., 1903-06-20
4 Queer story.

in the Rev. George c. Lorimer's novel
.The Mast er Of Millions" (Fleming H. Revell
Company, is fog. A heavy. steamy.
thoroughly Caledonian fog that on a certain
morning in the early sos "enveoped and
saturated the ancient city OF Edinburgh
from the Firth OF Forth to the Portland
Hills and pc netrated the homes and clothing
of it's worthy and unworthy burghers.
Fog is undoubtedlya penetrative thing and
is often diff1cult to dspel. 1t manifests
itself variously as condensed vapor. and in
its more subtle form OF mental mistiness.
From the moment when on the first page,
the hour Of 1 in the morning is sounded
automatically from the tower Of st. Giles
and is wheezily responded to by the bell
Of the Gray Iron Kirk, we fee it's pervasive
presence. Young Dawncy Macgillivray
was accused OF a crime Of which he was
innocent and fed from Edinburgh to Aus
tralia in the early sos. Years later he
turned up as Pitsligo Tysford. Meanwhile
he had made an immense fortune in the
land OF the leaping kangaroo. He owned
more diamonds than half dozen Indian
Rajahs and he had more money to his credit
than would have formed the capital pf
most of the largest Australian banks.
His possessions in lands and focks and
herds were enormous, and drought and
the rabbits had apparently passed him
by. He was the master of millions. Some
of his characteristics and certain OF the
incidents in Ptsligo Tysford's career show
that the Rev. Mr.. Lorimer has heard
or read OF the late James Tyson an &C.
centric Scotch Australian squatter, whose
name was n household word for years
In his adopted country. But "Old Jimmy
in real life was a far more interesting char
acter than this queer product OF the rev.
erend gentlernan's untrammelled imagina-
ton Untrammelled imaginative power
peryades the whole work almost as thor
ouehly a. does the fog. 1t exhibits itself,
for example, not unpleasingly in the names
OF most OF the characters. The Hon. Hy-
perion Goggles, Major of Hussars, has
a soothing sound. And Jane Boo ser a.
A name for a lady whose principal occupn-
ton in life was the continuous consump-
ton of cold gin seems singularly fit. Sarsa-
frass Maloney and the oleaginous Romeo
Wobbles, Laissina Quaco and Thalia The,-
perius, the actress Jabez Pinchover, Orlop
Youtsay and Prince Boreus Schlippen-
backwards are all impressive and do credit
to the authors powers Of invention. And
,ome Of the different dialects spoken by
these extraordinary persons are interest
ing in their unlikeness to anything that
we have met before. Most of the scenes
are laid in London, and the story winds
it's tortuous and unhurried way into some
queer places. said to be in Whitechapel
and along the river side. To these spots.
we are told in a preliminary announce
ment Of the publishers, the reverend gen
tleman went in search Of local color. Clad
in rough clothes and under the guidance
of On intrepid newspaper man, he explored.
notebook in hand. Some OF the results Of
his Investigations arouse the suspicion
that that wicked newspaper man was
bit OF humorist.
"Swot my bob and pair of two-eyed
steaks, but she's bloomin daisy" was
the strange remark made by Whtechapel
bricklayer when the beauty Of a passing
female aroused his admiration. Mr.. Icha-
bod Raphael, the aged money-lender. with