The Washington times., 1903-03-29
A NrORTH CAROLINA ROMANCE
"A TarHeeI Baron Is Neo Sort of NoUeL Sprnqino
Fsom Well Worked Field of Fiction.

earnest has been the insistence OF GER
tain authors that every hero and heroine
should come from the South, and, II pos-
sible. from Virginia
But Mrs Pelton's story is taken from
the life OF North Carolina. in the neigh
5orhOOd OF Asheville. region scarcely
touched except by Constance Fenfmore
WoOlson- who wrote some years ago
remarkably good story OF Asheville life
entitled Horace Chase
Miss woolson's work ard Mrs. Pelton's
are. however. entirely different. and the
former may be mentioned only as an
| illustration OF the fact that two good
stories can be written Of the same region
without being in the least alike
The -'Tar-HeeI Baron is not a na-
tive. but a German baron OF genuine
title. who. by reason OF trouble in his
native land. exiles himself TO this re-
mote region of the new world to live
on a North Carolina farm on an ex-
tremely small income and a smaller
knowledge OF farming. His quaint.
broken English. imPracticable but lofty
Ideals. aDd wholly lovsble character
gain the sympathy Of the reader from
the beginning.
Full of Local Color
The heroine. sydney Carroll. is q
nIgh-spirited and attractive girl. and
the minor characters are humorous,
pathetic. odd. and most interesting.
Perhaps the best Ia the book is Henry
Morgan. the eccentric old doctor OF
careless sarb and warm heart. whom
VIC first see in the act OF mending his
harness with string. standing in the
midst OF the peculiarly sticky and i'm
pressive mud characteristic OF North
Carolina. The conversation during the
process vas as follows:
Hang those things. That outside
one popped just yesterday. sophy.'
said the doctor. in a tone of griev-
anceS as II the fact of it's having
broken yesterday ought 10 have rem
dered him free from the liability OF a
similar annoyance today
All reckon you-sn II have 10 get
new harness some time returned Sophy
pIacidIy holding the reins which her
husband transferred 10 her as. with no
great relish he lowered his long. lean
person into the red sea OF mud below.
" Rather juicy down here. Got any
string. wife
.. Not bit You'll have TO AXE a
piece out c. the lines Suggested Mrs.
Morgan. With the resource born OF long
experience.
Temporizing With Nature.
'Ah low All viii. though they're
pretty short now from doing the same
thing befo''
He examined them gravely.
They amt very strong. either he
added Let's see. where are we att
He looked about him for landmarks
oh. there's the road that leads TO the
bsron's over yonder. Give me 70
handkerchief 70 this other trace now.
and wen try and get there befo' il pops
again
In fact the local color permeates the
book; il Is drenched with the rich hues
OF Southern mountain country. and full
OF the echoes OF the slow. soft Southern
speech. One chapter describes a gan
der-pullin' and one a 'possum hunt
But these things are mereIy Incidental
10 the real interest, the development Of
the plot and the character study.
Whether we find the baron singing
light heartedly a never-to- be forgotten
version OF Dixie Land" in Teutonic
English driven to desperate straits by
poverty. upholding his idea Of honor. or
pleading his cause as lover. he IA
adorahly human Mrs PeltoR's werk Is
not only original but good (PhiIadel-
phia: }. B. Lippincott Company