New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-06-11


III meets OF the road in a duel over nothing.
Finding too late. that the gentleman he has
slain was his way TO succOr a mysterious
LADY he forgets about his own errand and the
mustaches Of Brigham de Brigham, and takes
himself the fulf!ment Of the dead mans in
;errupted task. OF course. he accomplishes his
purpose. at no economy of blood shedding. and
with an almost wastetul OF spies. bandits.
rope ladders. male DISCUSSES for the lady, aban-
doned towers. heavy villains and all the usual
paraphernalia of the sixteenth century melo-
drama The story il as good Of its kind as any
OF Mr. Stephenss novels. Having once acquired
the formula, it is only necessary TO select the
ingredients lying ready to hand. and the thing
is done. Some people prefer their Dumas at first
hand but there are always those who Ike their
wine watered
Il is very mach the same kind Of French
man that William Sage takes for the hero of his
twentieth century novel. 'Frenchy: The Story of
a Gentleman Only. the times being different
and standards altered the nature of his ad
ventures is necessarily modified TO suit the
conditions OF modern life. A very lOvabe and
ohivarous gentleman is the Marquis of St.
Hilaire. who sacrifices his private fortune 10
save the good name OF his dear American friend.
Stanley Madison. AT his death Madison mas
named St. Hilaire the guardian of his young
sister and the trustee Of her vanished patri-
mony As she declines to marry her guardian.
having disposed of her affections elsewhere. St
Hilaire replaces the money squandered by his
peculating Chum, and comes to America with the
wreck of his fortune to engage in ranching-of
which he knows nothing-as plain Jean Bayaru
1t is but natural that so delightfully."- altruistic
a person should fall an easy victim to the WileS
Of a pair Of confidence operators and find him
self stranded in the West without cent 10 his
name What more likely. under these circum-
stances than that he should be taken FOR a
housebreaker by the charming American girl
who has befriended him when she finds him
fainting by the wayside. and that he should ia4
in love with her when. having become teacher
OF French he meets her afterward in social
life With this situation 10 start with. and with
recognition by a sleuthlike butler and the
kidnapping of the heroines little sister by the
gold brick gentlemen thrown in as additional
complications. poor ST Hilaire is fully conscious
Of the presence of danger. but finds her counte-
nance anything but refulgent. Dangers, like
blessings seem n brighten the further off they
vanish into the perspective. Nevertheless.
"Frenchy" proves himself 10 he very much of a
man. with very Anglican proclivity 10 use his
fists in personal encounters. and wins out in the
end. His adventures abundant and mildly
exciting. but it may be doubted If the trans
planting OF a d'Artagnan to American soil in
the present day will prove TO he an altogether
experiment in literary horticulture.
The fact that the Far East is the focal point
of interest Of the world to-day draws especial
attention to the first five stories in Frances
Ayrnar Mathews's just published volume. "A
Little Tragedy at Tien-Tsin.' People discuss the
yellow peril without very clear idea Of what
il means what il may portend. To get what
may he termed "a line" il. il is necessary 10
have a more accurate notion than most Of us
possess Of the Chinese. nature. for in China,
rather than in more progressive Japan. lies
whatever of peril" there is. II is difficult for
the average Occidental to comprehend the
Oriental character, so totally its standards
Of conduct at variance with In this
ability get behind the Chinaman's mask of
imperturba bility and TO obtain view OF his real
motives Miss Mathews has been unusually sue
cessfuL She has been equally successful in in
terpreting the result Of her studies in the open
ing stories of her new book. They are by far
the best of the fourteen tales which compose the
collection. Miss Mathews has written "A num-
her Of plays. and the influence OF her experience
as a playwright is shown in some Of her stories.
in a tendency 10 rely too much for effect on
smart dialogue and forced situations. But i'm
three at least Of her stories of Chinese life, "A
Little Tragedy" Alice Same" and The Co
Away Child" this influence is manifested in Civ
ing a genuinely dramatic interest 10 her mar
rative