The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-11-25

HHE story-teller has his tricks of lCD the trade just as the painter,
 the sculptor. the blacksmith and the carpenter. By subtle suggestion and vivid word painting he stirs the im- agination until it is in the proper re- captive mood for his story He chooses the time and place. the characters and their actions in accordance with we'll adjusted scheme for unity. The aid Of the familiar details of life are then called in to heighten the impression of the plot until one Is made to feel that he really sees and not reads what the artful narrator has written. The rain. the darkness, the batter of feet upon pavement, the screaming oe the wind the silence of a deserted chamber, the morbid working of a diseased mind-ail are woven into the story and made to serve their purpose so aptly and so we'll that the reader. his heart fluttering with excitement and his eyes racing over the pages, seldom realizes the deception which is being practiced upon him.
 Take for an example one of Robert Lewis stevensons short-story master pieces. ''Markheim." Admirers of Stew enson are familiar with this remarkable story. Those who have not read It should no longer neglect the opportunity. The event of 'Markheim is a murder. In a newspaper the story could be told in three lines but in the hands of literary genius 1t Is expanded into a vivid word painting that fingers in the mind of the reader. Murder has proven a controlling theme for writers. Many of them have achieved success in depict ing this crime but .'Markheim" is a mas terpiece.
 To begin with Stevenson chooses Christ mas day for his tale and here the art of the story-teller is apparent. Murder on Christmas day, in the era of peace and good will, when all the world is happy and men at their best has it's horrors intensified So the story opens on Christmas afternoon. Markheim enters the shop of a dealer in antiques, presum- ably to purchase a Christmas present. The dealer is old and bent but yet so worldly so insignificant. and such cyni- cal old villain that in the very beginning ones sympathies lean toward the pros- l pective murderer. Markheim is young man of broken fortunes and he comes to rob the old man. Step by step he nerves | himself to commit the deed. The two engage in trivial conversation when suG- denly Markheim bursts forth in wild | firaHA that r1a r1x 1r artt, baton of his mind. He is nearing the crucial stage and finally as the old man leans down in the act of replacing a handglass on a shelf Markheim leaps on him and drives a long dagger through his back.
 Then we have a picture of the strick- en murderer. The shop is filled with a score of small voices that whisper to- | gether of the crime; the ticking of the 1 old mans clocks smite him to the heart ; a small boy runs along the pavement without, the echoes of his footsteps re- sounding in Markheim's brain; even the candle flame mods at him accusingly; a nameless hustle Is everywhere and there stands the inner door ajar like an accus- ing eye, holding forth threats of peril from some unseen person who will enter and gaze upon the old dealer as he lies in his blood. Markheim looks down at the crumpled body of his victim, so mean. so limp and fallen so low. Like the phil osopher he Is. he thinks of the muta- bility of human fate and of the cry that will be raised when the corpse | Is found As he stands thus lost in meditation, what could be more effective