The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1904-12-03
GLIMPSE AT LATEST BOOKS.

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farm, spends tho right, sees Ills mother
aud his little daughter, Ellen. ana gives
her two hundred thousand crowns to be
opened on Christmas morning. when the
farm is TO bio sold at auction
Then he decides to go back to England,
and complete his work OF reconciliation
and utonemetlt He starts on foot Mt
night across the mountains, but s over
taken and buried In NJ, avalanche. He
mother and brother at the farm recog-
rlze his agency In the money lib has left.
The daughter Is told to whom she owes
her Christmas gift OF gold,yand Willie
Oscar lies dead under his winding sheet
Of snow, his memory Is held dear BY
those to whom he has not In vail, dedi-
Gated years Of rcpentancc and work.
The book is too sombrc and too alto
gether terrible TO be considered g work
or art It's dreariness and misery are
Enlightened and Its 1celandic life is shown
In its pages as coarse and revolving,
rather than as simple and idyllic.
TIE ABBEss OF vTAAYE.; BY Stanley
ss j. wcynan. 4es PIP. $3.50. .Longlnans,
Green and Company, New York. q
Mr. Weyinall's stories always provide
plenty OF action and excitemcnt-spread
over tho pages with the trcndSof II mas
ter. There is no writer doing ablor or
more successful work In the field OF tho
historical novel to-day. the simple truth
being that Mr.. Weyman Is, q born story,
teller. His new book, Tho Abbcss OF
glaye,n is based on the Internal unrest
and provincial dlsunion that was tearing
France apart during the reign Of Henry
OF Navarro, and IT loses no time In. get
st,.g tic conditions' Of the plot plainly
set forth-no slight matter of credit--in
itself.
81 1Icnry's heart was sore within nm, as
he saw in what IL weller Of lawlessness
and disorder, Of private feud and public
property, thirty years OF Civil War had
LEFT his Kingdom. The province was In
arms, torn asunder by u fcud between
two great houses. Another labored In the
tllroes of n peasant rising, its hills s1liEht
night after night with the flames Of burn
ing farm stcads. AS third was helpless
In the grip of7n gang OF Ibrlgands, who
held tho roads. Ono of tho most unset
tied ana most troublesome of all was
svlaye,, where sAugoninof IS. and Potion and
PerIford aud the Hinduism all convcrged.
and commanding province in thefneigh-
borlood. The ruler OF this province, the
so called captain Of Vlaye, had been over
heavy handed, had robbed rich and poor
alike, and the people; .'beginning TO find
stic thing beyond "a joke, began by hang
ing three poor devils of toll-ga therers and
the thing, startcd.'t That was the start,
and after that the devil OF the matter
was to stop IT,. At IIenry's council. with
which the story opens. none OF the great
lords who sat#about the council, neither
tho Governor Of Potion nor Of the Lindu-
sin, nor the great Constable of Mont
slnorency, seemed to fancy the joke a little
bit. h And finally Henry, picking out one,
des Ageaux, whom he himself had raised
from the people. and whose delicate sus-
capabilities did not consequently have to
he pampered like those OF the great
dukes hurled tho commission with no lit
tie bitterness into the gentleman's teeth
Fl give you six- weeks to rid me Of this
man, Vlayc. Fail, and to put in your
place O. man who will do It.. You UNDER
stand. Lieutenant? Then do not fail. BY
the Lord, 4 know not where shall
be bearded next. E,
"a Tho Captain OF vlaye. we learn at the
end, was dl1y wiped out. though whether
the dcedswere done by des Ageaux's hand
OF anothers, We are going to leave the
reader to find out For himself He will
also discover how the Abbess of Vlayc
won the love. OF II certain great gentle
I man. that she might turn tho power this
gave to Il, eadvantage OF the man she
herself loved. q How she was left a widow
after two days of married life. and much
else that is interesting a lot Of manly
deeds arc done In the course OF the story,
and a lot Of good red blood split.
Readers. who are fond Of historical
novels. Will do we'll to sticktto Nlr. W-e.y-
man. M
THE CHRONICLE OF DON O. BY X.
Hesbeth Prltchard, 3l3 PIP. s1,50, J. B.
Lippincott s Co, Philadelphia.
"A dozen or more really good stories
{ in an unusual vim. alf$relating to the
exploits OF the notorious Don O.. are
grouped together In this volume. Don
@ was reinarlsa BILE man personally,
and wonderful and notorious brgand.
His striking cognomen was the abre,ia-
+ ton OF his longer nickname, Quebranta.
Huesos, which, being interpreted, is the
bone smashing vulture Of Andalus!a; and
! the brIgand had fairly earned the ap-
pelations because his physiognomy was
Ilnquestionably the physiognomy Of a vul-
ture and in actions he was distinctly and