The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-09-14
BOOKS.
The Book Lover.

Count zarIea-By Sir William Magnay: L.
&. Page x Co, Boston. publishers For
sale by St Paul Book and Stationery
company.
The hero of this strange tale is a man
described as dark and handsome, fas-
cinating and repulsive, if such a thing
can be. The scene is laid in one of
those mythical princedoms which have
been imagined by novel writer's many
times since Anthony Hope established
the precedent with THE Prisoner of
Zenda." Count Zarka lived and plotted
in Rapsburg, which Russia gazed upon
with an enVlous eye. When the story
opens Prince Roel has mysteriously
disappeared, and it is the belief of his
friends that Russia has had something
TO do with his spiriting away. The Sc
cret police are put upon the trail. and
Count Zarka tells them that the night
before the prince went he wrote a let
ter to the girl he loved, telling her that
he was sending her some white and
red roses, and if she wore the former il
meant yes" and life but if the red he
would take it for mo- and death Ear
ka seems anxious that they should start
their search for Roel with the suppo-
sition of his death and try to find his
body. The police finally make up their
minds that Zarka himself has some
thing to do with the affair, and finally
they discover that he is in love with
RoePs sweetheart, the daughter of Gen.
Harlberg, who with her father is So
journing in the country near the great
estate of Zarka. Won Tressen who is
In the army and assisting the police in
tracing Roel, falls in love with the girl.
and she returns it; this is to the great
discomfort of the intriguing Zarka who
is determined to have her. Finally the
prince is discovered a prisoner in the
house of Zarka, where the latter has
kept him in order to win the girl, and
he has concocted the idea of the roses
to make plausible story. There are
all kinds of exciting scenes and hair
breadth escapes in the story but the
only dramatic scene is between Frau
Ieln HarIberg and a girl cousin of Ear
ka's, who hates her because he loves
her. Won TreSSen triumphs, Roel is
released, and the end finds the plotter
Zarka killed by an avalanche in his
mountains. The writer had large am
billions in the writing of this tale but
his performance falls far short of his
hopes. Indeed the story halts painfully
at times, and the mechanism behind the
scenes is plainly visible to the reader.
The duel between two beautiful women
is the scene for which the story is
written, and probably Count Zarka'
is already being made into a play by
some ambitious playwright
The Great Scoop-By Molly Elliot Sea-
well. l.. c. Page & Co., Boston For
sale by st. Paul Book and Stationery
company.
This pretty story appeared serially
In the Youths Companion, and is put
into permanent form for the benefit of
young readers 1t concerns Richard
Henshaw, a poor boy who is one of
the brave group of three children left
orphaned without means. Richard APP
plies for the position of office boy at
the Daily Times office, and it is not
long before he develops an instinct for
news which brings him some promi-
nence in the office and he is promoted
to reporter. His great scoop comes to
him one night when he is going home
about midnight; two officers of the
largest bank in town board the car