The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1903-02-14
BOOKS of the eek-"1he Master of Wariock," by GEORGE Cary
Eggleston, Is a Romance of Civil War Days-Other Book Re.
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The Master of Warlock.' by George
Cary Esgieston Uothrop Publishing Com
pany. Bcston>. which comes now well-nigh
the first of the fiction output of 1903. is the
third story of a group planned by the au-
thor to cover certain periods of American
history and social life.
b The first of the group was "A Carolina
Cavalier" in which Mr. Esgleston gave us
a historical of Revolutionary days
The second novel in the series. Dorothy
South presented a picture of Virginia in
the early ffties the darbening era preced-
ing tbs Civil War. Tais latter. the dreadful
conflict between the States. is the dominant
theme of the hook new under consideration.
ard The Master of War.ock' is the typical
youES Firginisn who sprans to arms IN de-
Tense OF the South whel Virginia seeded
from the Union.
Mr.. .Esgleston. as a novelist. impresses
one as a kindly-sou,ed and ws.-hred gentle
man who writes somewhat entertaining
stories with no thought of claiming great
nest in his calling and no desire for the
notcr!ety sometimes made possible by a re-
sort 10 sensatiorattsm. In "A Carolina
Cavalier he voiced a simple appeal to
American patriotism of the Kind that is
moved TO thrill at mention of the brave
I. OIf war OF independence. III me
Master of Warlock" he enters upon debata-
BILE ground. but he tells the story of the
bloody timer of '6i-'65 from the South
erners point Of View. and with a firm loyal
ty to Southern tradition. Always he is in
Genuous and sincere. and his people. while
making no particularly original impress up
on the miDd of the reader. are ltkable and
have enough of the dramatic element in
thel. fortunes TO sustain our interest in
them.
In this matter Of the dramatic quality Mr..
ESgleston. in his present book, falls back
upon one Of the oldest of plot-motives-
the love of Il Young man and a young
woman whose families are at faud. We
have had so much of this Montague and
C2pulet bushes, indeed. that one feels
tempted to exclaim. "a plague on both your
h7usesi' when a new pair of lovers bobs up
under these distressing conditions. but Mr..
Eggleston's feud is of so mild a temper
that 1t may. perhaps. be forgiven on that
account. The Pegrams of Warlock and the
Donalds of The Oaks quarreled over a di-
vision of land once UPON a time. and there
after a GOODNESS existed between the two
families. Their men did not go around kill
Ing one another. there was never a drop of
blood shed in the course of the. feud, but
the two families just declined to play in
each others yards. so to speak. and 1t was
fe,t. therefore. that Baltic Pegram and
Agatha Ronald should not wed. But. Lord
bless you. when we meet them in the very
first chapter making goo-goo eyes across a
broken-legsed horse. don't we know beyond
ell ~peradventure what's going to happen be-
fore the story closes?
In the course of the Civil War. through
which runs the thread of these two young
peoples romance. We encounter tn pictur-
esque figure of General ''Jeb' Stuart, the
South's ideal cavalryman. under whom. as
Captain of a mounted battery of artillery,
Baltic Pegram sees a lot of fighting. Just
for the sake OF variety, l wish that Mr..
Egsleston had not drawn so precisely the
Stuart who delighted our souls years ago
in the pages of John Esten Cookies Surrey