The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1904-10-09

| WIFI a woman easy
| ella was by this time engaged to b.
married, but 1t would be unfair to thu
| reader to betray the lucky gentleman,s
name
| This is an agreeable little story which
almost anybody can read with pleas,,rablt
| interest 1t Is said TO be the author:
first venture into the field of novel
making. and In this case he has ccr-
tainly made d very clcdltable beginning
THE REVELATION OF TERst1LF. BY
Mary Farley Sanborn, 25S PIP. sl.bO
Dodd. Mead & Co. New York. For
sale here by Bell Book & Stationery
Company. ri
AZ This Is another OF those intimate out
ppurings in which a woman Is supposed
to tell the truth about herself" and
OH this score at once invites comparison
with "The Confession OF a Wife.
and other similar volumes Of recent mem
ory, In general manner, THE Reveln :
ton of Herself" is particularly reminis-
cent Of the first Of tho two mentioned,
though It is not by any means SO good.
The Confessions Of Marina, wife, de-
spite tho levity with which that work
was received in certain quarters, and the
spirit of bYrlesque which 1t raised ram-
pant in the land, was with Ill Its absurdi-
ties, a rather unusually good pecc Of
work. That is considerably higher com :
mcndation than can be mcted out to
4"The Revelations of Herself."
Notwithstanding the alluring title, Her
self, really reveals very little. a piece
of information which will be a disap--
pointment to those who are led to, hope
for frank story Of a lady's heart. The
first revelation Is made on page !, when
1T is pretty plainly intimated that Her.
self, or Madge, rs a she is known IN
real life. is interested in gentleman
of the name Of Tony. and this Is the
only one OF any consequence that We
have been able to find. Tho elaboration
"nf the initial revelation is the story.
Grandmother Pullen8 has a q paralytlc
stroke, and Madge Is summoned to the
old lady's bedside, leaving Tony discon:.
tsolatcly behind in the Grand Central
Station. The separation drags on for
months. and. Is of course. the occasion
sharc7 in which is not given to the pub
lie. Finally. little needless rift comes
within the lutte. and the engagement Isl
for tho time being. called off. Herself,
however, not to be 1owned. keeps a on
steadily grinding out letters which she lays
in a safe place awaiting the day OF recon-.
cillaton There Is a man named Myles
whom Tony had made the object Of q
lovers Jealousy, but nothing comes Of
this: and In the end we 4 are given TO
understand that two united hearts are
again to beat as one.
This story Is well enough as far as
1t goes. but neither In matter or manner
is it strong enough 4 Q excite more than
a lnnguid interest. There Is no action
or movement. 6Plotless stories like this,
~ y net ely
skill In tic TELLING; one expects them,
TO exhibit a higher literary quality than
would be demanded OF those which offer
a good plot and brisk action The
lettei-novel is, at least. n very trying
kind OF thing. because 1t Is SO horribly
unnatural. Thez?aVther III the dutifnl
endcavor to explain The situation to the
reader, Is obliged 10 force his people
TO write things ii, their letters That they
would Srot.sir left TO themselves. cor.
ceiyably write. Thus Herself pens tho
following: Il
Then 4 asked YOU u yo,l5 could tell
me who IT. Was tia t33wIOte tho editorials
on social conditions Which ~ chad read
Iii, the c;azer. md you nsysered.. etc,
As Tony was: no q onbt sault g familiar
with the events refelTed 4 to.4iEWe may
hatEtheY are hero set down,
not for&his8 ditisation, but sSlnerely for,
the sake Of putting thet4pnbllc next, ~
There Is. also plel't ofA tllisessort} Ut
stuff in 5Nadgc' IS ettnrs:: s5ai3;
Gas 7 sent8niy soul out ttosmeet yours
it seemed indeed tiIa tss!'oll u s3flSseew very
near. had seen YOU on Iva fgsW hours
before. Yoim4dealf straight forward, clear
blue eyes, your 1scllla rc5 HI houl Aers and
strong supple hands and part Ing Of
your thick. dark crisp halr.9pss55li7!. +
People who's like this sort of.tEing will
no doubt find these letters to theiretaste
For our part. VIC areS inclined Y to feel
rather sorry for Tony, s.ss.s /; Y
CHIEF by. Rose * /. Weckes,
$50 Pr, Harper & Bros. New York.
For sale here By Bell Book & Sta
tioncry Company.
Some unusual characters Il tread tho
pages OF "Love-in- Chief" Indeed, this
decidedly original little story contains
scarcely any figures that are merely re-
vnmps from the authors perusnl OF other
fiction; 1t has that distinct merit.
Maybe the oldest of them all was Liz
cian9de Saumurez, whose physical or
ganism was literally collection Of
linceptive diseases" hut who managed to
have pretty GOOD time IN SPITE OF MS
superlativclys sickly body. III chapter l.,
Lucian, attacked by violent hcmolrhagc
of the lungs. and lacking a bed OF his
own. lies down in tho muddy road. with
out fenrand without clatlon,, to die. This
plan Is frustrated however by the
timely arrival Of Noel Farquhar, NJ r.,
who makes q practice OF charity be-
cause 1t looks well, and who now takes
14ucian 10 his home. Farquhar Is tho
next oldest character in the book, Ills
Hypocrisy was Of such antiquity that
1t had become scarcely hypocrisy at all,
but now and then some keen observer
for instance Lucian catches him up.
+ While Luclan lay in l'arquhar's house
in an apparently comatosc condition, the
, respectable member Of Parliament re-
moves love letter from the sick man's
pocket and reads 1t through without a
blush, Lllcian, however, happens To
| have one alethargic eye fixed upon him
at tho time: md from that moment sees
| through Farquhar as through a window
glass
Dolly Fame, too, was little eccentric
Dolly vas "a beauty. a wild rider. untu-
| tored and untamed. " and had contracted
| tle had habit nf su,,Inr poachi,,, ,,,ttt,