Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-11-26


what is often miscalled local color there is
only enough to give background for the
activities of the personages. The story
will never be read particularly for its de-
scription of life in that distant island.
Two brothers love the same young girl
and the elder gives her up to the younger,
in circumstances that blast his reputation,
drive him from his fathers house, make
him a social OutcaSt and tie him to a life
of drudgery desolate farm. The young
err a musician of superior ability, proves
an utter scoundrel and drives his young
wife into her grave by his infidelity and
his unthinking cruelties. He FORCES his
fathers name to great sum and Is COM
PEELED to fee, leaving his family ruined
financially through the effort to llquidate
the debt thus incurred. He succeeds tenn
porarily. but, caught in the net of a tempt
ress he sinks to the depths of utter moral
abandonment and is saved from exposure
only by a subterfuge which spreads the
report of his death. Then under another
name he builds a great fortune and world
wide reputation as a composer and returns
to Iceland to repair the damage done by
his wickedness. In the final scenes describ-
ing his atonement the author rises to his
highest point. 1t is there that he invests
his tale with strong qualities. with the
real atmosphere of the northland Magnus
the brother who has suffered through his
sacrifices. yields at the last to great
temptation, but for a noble motive. Oscar
Stevenson. his brother. dies In the vol
canic mountains glorified by his repentance
and purified by his own sins and their pun
ishment.
Not a pleasant story, indeed. But Hall
Game does not write pleasant stories He
writes quite the other kind. And of all
his unpleasant stories this is perhaps the
most unpleasant of all Yet it is story
that despite its somberness and it's repel-
liant incidents. leaves it's mark on the mem
DRY as great performance.
HEROES OF THE NATIONS: Edited by Fl. W.
Davis. M.A.-WELLINGToN, SOLDIER AND
STATESMAN; and the Revival of the Military
Power in England Ky William O'CoDnor Nor
ris. sometime scholar OF 0riel College Oxford
New York: G. L. Putnams Sons. Washington:
Woodward Lothrop.
This biography OF the Duke of Yelling
ton Is more than an item in a large and
important series of works OF that char
acter. 1t Is the supplying of an urgent
need. OF Wellington literature there is no
lack. There are several large works de-
voted to the correspondence of the great
commander. treaties on his campaigns and
comparisons between his military methods
and those Of Napoleon. But there has
been. until now, no convenient account of
the life and, works of Wellington in terms
that appeal to the average student, In a
compass to give 1t wide circulation, and
prepared by the hand of a competent au-
thority. Judge O'COnnor Norris was ex
ceptionally qualified 10 treat of such
career in this manner Added to a grace
full literary style was a power of Shrewd
analysis and keen discrimination His
taste led him to the study of military sub
jects and his biographies of Napoleon and
Hannibal in this same series have proved
among the most successful and attrac-
tive members of the list. 1t appropri-
ate that he should prepare the Wellington
volume, for his researches in preparation
for the Napoleon life gave him access to
the chief items in Wellington's military ca
reer and covered the greater part of that
section of the ground. He died before
the work was issued, but he lived to re-
wise the proofs, so that the book stands
as his final expression upon theme which
evidently absorbed his attention and inter
est. His estimate of Wellington Is eminent
ly judicial and his comparisons are at all
times fair and dispassionate.
MONSIEUR DUPIN; the Detective Tales Of Edgar
Allen Poe. Illustrated by Charles Raymond
Macauley New York: Mcclure. Phillips & Co.
Washington; Woodward Lothrop.
1t was a happy idea to assemble the de-
tective stories of Poe in a single modern
volume. with new illustrations. together
wit critical analysis of Poe as the
founder OF the school of this class of fic-
ton. The editor OF the compilation remains
unnamed. save for the initials w. A. b.
He has chosen the three tales which unmis-
takably belong to the category, THE Muir
ders in the Rue Morgue." The Mystery of
Marie Roget and The Purloined Letter"
He has next added as a detective story,
despite its usual classification as gro-
tesque, Thou Art the Man." one of Poe's
most gruesome tales He closes the vol
ume with THE Gold Bug" that often re-
printed tale. which properly belongs in the
same classification because of it's character
as the unraveling of a mystery. In his in
PRODUCTION he notes the influence which Poe
exerted in this line OF fiction writing upon
his most distinguished followers, Gaboriau
and DR.. Doyle. He says:
Poo has been factor of singular inn
portance In the artistic and literary history
OF the nineteenth century. 1t 10 surprising