New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1903-10-04

JT. Illustrated
12mo, PIP viii 45i Charles scribners sons O-'''
THE RED-KEGGERs BY Eugene Thwnr. Illus
ITated by W Herbert Dunton Emo. pp. 40.
THE FORTUNES IT, I; OF Fiji By Molly Elo. Sea-
! l2mo, PIP, 20. Indianapolis: The Bobbs- Merrill
/ THE LITERARY SENSE. BY E Nesbit limo.
| PIP vii ga The Macmillan Company: --'-''
Mr.. Fo., has never written anything quite so
good The Little Shepherd Of Kingdom
! Come" It is old fashioned story, and we
like it the better for this reason. The hero is a
/ little waif tot the Kentucky mountains who at
/ the outset is handicapped in every way. Poor,
illterate, friendless, and with the bar sinister
/ to make matters worse, he goes forth into the
world accompanied only by his faithful dog.
The first act in his drama is in the true spirit
! Of immemOrial romance. SO, too, are the scenes
! that folow-Chads happy reception into the
! home of people humble himself, his en-
counter with kinsman on a higher plane. the
wiping out of the stain upon his ancestry. and
| his meeting with the heroine Mr.. Fox follows
familiar vein, also, in making his hero go to
the war, leaving his best friends in something
| like wrath OF course he takes the opposite
side to theirs, and of course, all seems ended
| between him and the girl he loves Yet the
conventionality of the entire fabric has not
made this book uninteresting. has it de-
|
writes of the scenes and types Of Kentucky
as one who knows and loves them, and he gives
| to his tale atmosphere lifting it out of the
| ruck of latter day war stories II is a spOn-
/ taneous piece OF work, for all that it follows
well worn lines of construction It has. too.
the virtue of being technically polished and
| workmanIike performance. There no loose
ends about it. The narrative is carried forward
with Skill and the style throughout is flexible
| iS he
it is the most interesting novel which MIR. Fox
| has put to his credit.
| The Red-Keggers' is another story of the
sort with which, during the last few years. We
| have grown increasingly familiar. 1t is
! story devoted to the people and daily life of
particular ocaIity. In this case it is among
| the farmers and lumbermen of Michigan that
| the author has found his opportunity. Mr..
| Thwing begins with scene that has all the
| pIeasantness Of an old friend; he takes US into
| a district schooIhouse, and We are privileged to
| behold the usual plucky young cchoolmaster
queIling the mischievOus spirits among the I'M
| ruly and stalwart youths he is set 10 instruct
and to control The chapter is not wholly
couraging The district school in fiction is often
| apt to troduce nothing tepid bucOlics.
| But Mr.. Thwing is not without spirit. Though
| his plot is not precisely dramatic 1t has its
| passages of excitement; in fact, some fairly
| thrilling things occur in these pages. Interest
| is divided between them and the sketches Of
| Michigan types and manners on which the
| author has bestowed much care as he has
given to his love story. 1t is readable book,
| though L might have been improve by con-
densation.
Miss Molly Elliot Seawen has developed a
rather promising faculty for the composition of
such light and even fantastic stories as she
| gives US in The Fortunes Of FId-' q romance
| that is consecutive enough, but that Is chiefly
! amusing through its containing a picturesque
! episode in each of its eleven chapters She
thinks nothing of bringing historical person
| ages upon the scene. Her heroine Is only, as
| good Cartouche would have It q little third
rate actress a fourth-rate theatre, yet
| NAPOLEON himself is made take an interest IN
| her fortunes. 1t is incredible. no doubt this
| piece Of gayety, but since it IS innocenty gay,
why should we complain? Miss Seaweu IS
| sprightly from beginning to end; she has u
! very pretty touch Of sentiment in her work,
and The Fortunes of iii is really better
| worth reading than many more ambitious
! book produced 1T the present time
| The short stories by Mrs. Nesbit collected
under the general title of The Literary Sense
have each little plot, but the aim Of the book
as a whole is one of amiable satire The author
! has perceived the frequent disposition of other