The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-12-25

ment Of southern daring and chivalry. The heroic fortitude and devotion of the people of the South in the last stage of the war are strikingly shown.
 But if MT. Eggleston's title is some- what misleading his pages do not lack for exciting events. He carries his readers and his heroine through many startling events. Evelyn Byrd is kid mapped, wears for several years the disguise of boys attire, lives in a lum- Der camp, learns much of birds and an- imals, and of the ways of frontier folk, thrashes a young priest for killing her pet squirrel For this her father is | obliged to remove her from the camp, so angered are the French Canadians at this insult to their man of God" From here the father and daughter go to Hudson's Bay, and see life among the fur traders and whale men of that region. Then the heroine runs away | with circus people and learns to ride barebacked in spangled skirts. And all the time she has preserved. oh! the | miracles of romance! a most conven- tional and maiden-like ladyism. Hap | oily what's born in the blood and bred | in the bone sometimes out-conquers ad- , verse circumstances.
 Quite the best part of the book are | the descriptions of our hard-fought bat | ties. The chapter, When Greek Meets Creek" the story of the fight of the Wilderness and at Spottsylvania Court House will bear reading many times. The stirring chapter ends with the story of how Kilgariff held the hill at that bloody battle:
 | Before Kilgariff had traversed half the distance toward the crest, the com mander of that North Carolina bigade had called out a message that was quickly passed from mouth to mouth down his line. The message was: | We must save those guns and hold that hill. They call us tar heels. Let us show how tar sticks
 Instantly, and with a yell that might have come from the throats of so many demons, the brigade of about two thousand men bent their heads for ward, rushed up the hill, and swarm ed around Kilgariffs guns. The de- ployment into line quickly diverted the enemy's attention to a larger front. Other guns were hurriedly brought up to the hill. and half an hour later a substantial line of earthworks cov- cred its crest.
 The three minutes that Kilgariff had allowed for the complete destruc- tion of his little company were scarce ly gone when relief came. He was ordered to withdraw his remaining z gun by hand down the hill-by hand for the reason that not a horse re- mained of the thirty-odd that had so lately galloped up the steep"
 The Soldier of the Valley. by Nelson Lloyd. Truly a classic of the Penn sylvania valleys. The strength of the book is its simplicity and naturalness , Village scenes village characters were revcr more ~iv dly done. The homecoming of the hero introduces the folk of the village with all their quaintnesses and kindnesses. The hero Is a veteran of the Spanish American war, he has lost a leg at Santiago and the rest of his life he Is to be a prisoner in the valley. his life hemmed in by the mountains that en- closed the settlement of Black Log Perry Thomas's delayed speech of wei come and it's reception by a too re- sponsive audience is an admirable piece of fun. The hero becomes a , school teacher of the valley twenty dollars a month is the salary, and school keeps six months." Slim prov 1 ender for hero! and yet in this land of the free how many of its citizens in the quiet valleys of Pennsylvania, Ten nessee. Alabama, live hero's lives on as little?
 Books! Books! Books" Its "Booksv' that is the old well known school call , of all these valleys. Books" and the scholars crowd in for the scant feast of knowledge spread. It Is the peo- pie of these vallsys and of hooks like these that make and are our true Americans.
 These are the bone and sinew of our country, the sons and daughters of the men who cut homes out of the primeval forest. who won freedom for us at Lexington, Valley Forge, King s Mountain and on hundred battlefields of the revolution. These are the true Americans who met on the bloody fields in fratricidal war in the sixties. These the real brothers of America who fought again side by side up San Juan hill. School boy literature hasn't a better bit in all its range than teach CT Marks Friday afternoon recital with It's forceful Hand of Dougoulas.'
 Love of Lovers is the chief theme of the romancer But this story has for its main theme the love of broth CTS. Not all the charm of the maid from Kansas in her Dunkard costume of grey could divide from each other the love of Tim and Mark. And after all was not Tim the greater hero? He drew the shorter straw and stayed at home from war and it's glory. He went to war in the great city when he found that Mark with his crutches loved the girl he loved. When Mark lost what Tim had left for his win ming it was Tim who like hero phil osopher saw beyond:
 T was wishing, Tim,' I answered. laying a hand on each of his broad shoulders. 'I was wishing you had kept her when you had her" Tim laughed. It was his clear honest laugh.
 "Tt is best as 1t it. he said Its best for her and best for us, for she'll be happy. But supposing one of us had won-would 1t have been the same the same as 1t was before she came the same as 1t is now?"
 And so Mary made undue haste though three loves to wed the rich stranger from the city. Mary. whose love was as sweet and vagrant as a er-ordored valley breeze, was the sort of girl to leave many pleasant memories in many hearts.
 The book is fresh, vigorous, of unusual power and charm. It deserves a long life.
 "A Defective Santa Claus" by James Whitcomb Riley.