New-York tribune., 1903-04-05

through which there runs a thread or roniaiNe
Just sufficient to hold things together. 1he sup
posititious narrator is a young Phliadeiphi'An,
! living abroad amid certain individuals an
women who draw him out on divers sip'.
and occasionally contribute remarks Oh nc
own. Master Percyfeld has views on poii',,
and other topics which he airs sIaoeid-y sIa
enough and from time to time he relates SUM
incident in his life, a hold up IN the
for example, or some episode of his cilliu'
He talks well. He has breeding ana Nu'-
Perhaps he is too Complacenty a""l0 ~
blessings. If the book has a fault II le' ~
sa1f-consciousness which makes itself felt mere
and there. If it has another, 1t lies III '
dency of the author to cross too 1requeii'1S
line that separates sentiment and sentiiheH'e
! Rut there is 10 resisting the sunny cheertuines9
which Mr. Henderson puts into ms pages
book is a delicate piece of writing, kindiy anu
sti,,,lative to pleasant thought With its re
fined and leisurely tone it is distinctly "ei'0i1~
To turn from John Percyfeld' TO io-U
Ieonar rd the LuckIess" 5 to turn from the pea
and beauty and sweetness or an ALPINE -
Tn the bvstericaI ward of an i'll kept hospltal o
| 4 foggv November day in London Inc re'l1o
of fiction, who is additionally suppoSeu ~
| the monotony of turning pages py 80
reaching out to a box of chocolate creams wants
|
| Norris. Neither can it commend itself 10 'iio91
| who protest that they like their fiction s'i
"Iord Leonard the I.uckless'' is rather Tor tioSe
| morbid people who enjoy lingering over 'I'
sickly woes of utterly uninteresting characlei''
| Perhaps this overstateS the case little "heie
| Lord Leonard himself is concerned he Is iio'
altogether uninteresting in his unnltlghteo iu'
Iessness We are willing to believe thae 'ei
may be men in the world with some IL not All VI
the traits of this poor EngllshInah but w"
fatty refuse to believe that life contains sItua-
tions quite so strained that of Mr. MOTIFS
hero; and if by chance they do occur, they cei-
tainIy could provide but Indifferent stuH lor d
novel Lord Leonard falls in love- only to have
his Juliet elope with his best friend Ihereupoii
he marries the vulgar governess who has done a
good deal to precptate his disaster iIiiie
passes. Lord Leonard succeeds in divorclng MS
wife compelling her to leave her daughter under
his roof Then more trouble ensues- The nap
less man cannot apparently avoid encounters
| with those who have wronged him, and from
| these further miseries duly flow. We nave ho
| wish to recount then-they are too stupid 700
unnatural, too thoroughly sa turated in the petu-
est kind of norbidity. a drearier tale than TINS
we have never read. 1t is written, OF course
| by practiced hand Mr.. Norris knows now 10
| deal with his material. But on this occasion MS
| a
| Lord Leonard the Luckess'' from being a de-
| plorable failure
Mr. Pugh like Mr. Norris is in doleful MOOD
and THE Stumbling Block makes almost as
| tiresome reading as Lord Leonard the LUCK
| less" It is all about Miss Cambria OrmathWalle'
| the daughter of Welsh glassblower. she Is d
| mink Naturally she is beloved by man rep
resented as a type of sturdy manllnesS anu
| pathetic fidelity. Their chickering's before mar
rage tease the reader with the persistence OF
ouarreIs between a couple of bluebottle flies on
a. stuffy day Bria as she is called brings
hint O, drama into the book when she pays
practically, the part of murderess, but II Is
very cheap drama. She is an obnoxious little
bundle Of nerves; Mr.. Saxon Basterheld, VINO
goes on loving her just the same, is rather
prig and the remarks of the other people In the
book who are supposed to be clever are on the
level of the comic snippets which do service In
the English illustrated weeklies of certain
sort To have read every page of 1.-The Stun
bling Block is to have shown the author great
consideration.