Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-11-14

the efficient sheep herder. Had this young
woman been given a serious part to play
in the story her presentation as the center
of interest in the opening chapters would
be justifiable. In consequence of this lapse
the novel holds the readers interest rather
by its vivid scenes than by it's continuity
of purpose. One of the finest bits of recent
fiction writing is contained in the chapter
which tells of the agony of the wife of
"Rustler" Jim Rodney on the eve of his
lynching.
terestng and Instructive Reading from Famous
Authors. By Charles Josselyn. author of The
Z ara Co. Napoleon San Francisco; Paul Elder
In these busy times few men women
are familiar with the great examples of
classic literature. Novel reading has coi.-
sumed the leisure of most book lovers, and
the proportion of true students of literature
is discouragingly small. 1t is well, there
fore, that a man who loves books and is
capable of judging of the best in English
and French literature should have be-
thought him to prepare what may be styled
volume of samples, wherewith to tempt
people to pause and partake and perhaps
to acquire the habit of browsing among the
great books. His volume is by no means
condensation of the worlds best books
into small compass. 1t is rather a sugges-
tive rendering of characteristic examples
or the following authors: Addison, Bacon,
Balzac, Boswell Chesterfield Dawson,
Dickens, Paul L. Ford, Froude. Goldsmith,
Grant, Gronow, Halsey Holmes, Hugo.
Hume, Hunt Huxley, Jordan, Lamb, Lever,
Lytton, Macauley. Mathews. Montague.
Ouida, Pascal, Prime Rousseau RuSkin,
RUSSELL Schopenhauer Scott Stearns,
Thackeray and Tyndall. OF course, in such
a work much depends upon the taste of the
compiler But that is the rule in every line
of life. There must be leaders and instruc-
tors and almost conscientious oOmDila-
uon of literary goodies by chef of indus
try and discrimination is worthy of consid-
Grafton.
A ROSE o. PLYMOUTH-TOwN: Romantic Com
edy in Four Acts. Ry Beulah Marie Dix and
Il. Turner 4 Co.
This play was produced a season or two
ago, with Miss Minnie Dupree in the title
role, and was accepted as a pleasant and
conscientious presentation of life in the
early days of the Plymouth colony, when
hunger and threats of Indian massacres
tried mems souls. Its publication as
book, with illustrations of Miss Dupree
in costume. is an acceptable souvenir of
the production.
FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS at SCHOOL. By Mar
garet Sidney. Illustrated by Hermann Heyer
Boston, Lothrop Publishing Company.
There they are again, the Five Little
Peppers bright as ever, and as welcome.
They have probably more close intimate
friends today than any other quintet of
younsters whose names are known to the
world, and, indeed. they are as real as lfv-
ing children to the thousands of their ad-
mirers This story goes back bit in the
biography of the Pepper family. So urgent
were the demands upon the author while
she was writing about the Peppers abroad
and elsewhere that she had no time to
pause to tell of their schooling, but now
their admirers have asked that she return
to those days and give an account of their
school life. This she does in a manner
which shows that she kept close and low
ing watch on the Peppers while they were
acquiring the rudiments of knowledge.
RoMANCEs OF COLONIAL DAYS. By Geraldine
Brooms, author of DANES and Daughters of
Colonial Days" &c. Illustrated New York:
Thomas Y. Crowell & Co.
Although the day of the so-caled "'his-
torical romance" is waning, there is never
theless a wholesome demand for stories of
blended fact and fancy concerning the
great personages of the past. Miss Brooks
is exceptionally competent to supply this
demand within her own particular range,
which includes the colonial period of Amer
lean history. Her researches have led her
into many by-WayS well as along the
highways of history, and she has secured
an abundance of material which she has
woven in these short stories into a delight
full fabric. Her themes are all frankly
historic, such as the wooing of John Alden
and Priscilla. Some of them, however, are
less commonly known, and in the telling OF
these stories Miss Brooks has had recourse
to the results of her close Investigations
and her collections of letters and records.
She has arranged her Tomances ehrono-
logically so that they present the effect
of a panorama Of the succeeding periods,
illustrating the changing fashions ana
moods of the colonists. The titles and
periods of these tales are as follows: In
Uhc do a
Gate u69M, 1.-The Secret of the Trees
d735), "A Crown That Stung Qt4i), The
Serving of a Laggard Lover u12ll' lne
Wooing Of Governor I'oo,' et me lass fnaS,
the Mischianza' Q77S) and I'm the Amoas-
sador's Garden" QISo).
THE HEART OF JAPAN: Glimpses OF Life and
Nature Far from the Travellers Track III the
Land of the Rising Sun BY Clarence s Ludlew
fellow Society of Arts; member of the japan Japan
Society of London; Illustrated; Ne" H nork'
ward & Lothrop.
A man who is a geographer, an artist ana
a lover of Japan surely should be able to
tell the story of that delightful land in all
its phases This Is Mr.. BrownelFs accom-
plishment which merits high praise for its
thoroughness, its novelty of view and Its
literary finish. He avoids the didactic
method of the guide-book and the other eX-
treme the descriptive short story, ana.
striking a happy medium between them, he
tells of Japan's many delightful phases.
customs scenes and monuments with
wealth of charming personal chat and in
cident His chapters have almost the effect
of fiction while they hold the readers con-
fdence in their substantial truth. The Illus
trations are beautiful. and, despite the null
titude of photographs which have been
taken in every corner of Japan, they con-
tribute to the western worlds understand
ing of the wonders of the island empire.
ESSAYS AND CRITICISMS. By Robert Louis
Stevenson. Boston: Herbert B. Turner & Co.
Much of Stevenson's best work is scat
tered through his shorter papers and es-
says which were given first publication in
periodicals and are not generally appre-
ciated by lovers of his style and matter. In
this edition. corresponding in dress to other
Stevenson books from this same house, are
given twelve papers, the majority of which
have never heretofore been included in col
lections of his writings These papers are
of three classes, and are grouped as fol-
lows: ION the Road a series of walking
sketches; Literary Papers and "Swiss
Notes. A special interest attaches to the
first of the second class to which Steven
son gave the title THE Morality of the