The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1904-11-12

| back to visit his grHndfathcr's grave,
4 and to see his earlier world In Its changed
conditions When The consciousness 10
borne In upon him that the woman who
! hud first loved him is not happy MS his
| brothers wife, lie endeavors by supreme
| self-abnegation TO restore her balance OF
content and trust, and to q rouse her llus-
band to sense Of his obligations.
Ills struggle liz In vain. The shallow
ma t,lrc betrnys itself after NIL, and the
i two In whom the mind OF the reader Is
i mainly Interested are freed fiunl n weary
enthrallmcnt and left to work out the
problem OF the future with at least free
dom OF heart and n clearer vision as TO
1 past mistakes and mlsstcps.
OFF TUE HIGHWAY. BY. ALICE Prescott
Smith, 200 PIP. $3.50. I1oughton, Milf
ti. film & Co., Boston.
We picked up Off the Highway rather
suspcctng 1t. In advance, of being q
volume Of placid and unreniarkab Die es-
sa.ys on either nature or domestic lifc
| and found It, to our pleasant surprise, n
! wcll-written novel and n good story 10
readers faded with problem novels, With
stories laying bare wickcdness in high
| ociety and the workings OF many q tor
4 tured sohl. this book Will come ike y wait
4 OF mountain air 10 a Wayfarer Z III inc
desert. lt"s Il story built along simple
lines and. for tho most part. about peo-
| ple whose lives are cast off the beaten
! and familiar highways or traffic. and
whose claim upon our notice lies not IN
| their chance environment, but in the ma
| tive Interest Of their own personalities.
n addition. there Is enough OF complica-
Elton in the course OF true love TO float
| the action OF the story successfully 10
the end.
To begin with the story has an I'M
1 :, yi,,ca ncf
| takes place on one OF the fruit farms OF
| the Sierra Nevadas, whittier Drake VIII
mot. q rising and consequently over
worked young surgeon, HES himself Tor
a six months' cooperation out of-doors.
1T was pure impulse that led Drake to
Jump suddenly Off the train nc Madronn
Crossing that day; but II II had been ! he
| physlcal hand of Fate that had pushed
Thin of. the thing could not have ia n
pened more opportunity. Not only was
Marion Whiting, his brothers tunfcrgottcn
! love OF years ago. temporarily uckinG
herself away in that retired little spot,
but there lived also Agatha Cavendlsh.
1.-THE clergyinan's daughter ms FAIR a
| flower as the eye OF a health-broken sur-
gcon could wish to gaze upon. Godfrey
| JVilmot in She natural courseiof events,
comes 10 Mndrono to see Drake. and. of
course he sees Marion. too The series
OF little Observation-Disclosures which manages
10 keep these Two pairs q lovers success
fully apart for a time. appear to- us a
|trine manufactured and overshadowy 20
| stand tho pressure Of men and women OF
good, red blood However ople out OF
| fiction have sometimes fallen apart on
less. and 80 this criticism would, no DOUBT
| fall to the ground. M I any rate. however
real or unreal thcyn,ay be. Godfrey and
Drake break through them IN their own
good time. and at the end there are no
Ia, IL, ffpN
| other cilara cter OF Importance N the
book is the Clergyman. Agatha's father.
who IS Il 'naw' sort of story-book par
son, and well done. We could not help feel
ling both a little sorry and n little glad
! when MI. .Cdvendish definitely turned his
lbacl, on the callRto the pulpit OF the First
| Church OF San Francisco. nd elected to
remain with lis flock at Madrono tCT T'is
| Ing.
Tho simplicity OF the story and Its
cheerful, hopeful spirit seem to place
| it in tho class Of the old fashioned novel
now In danger OF becoming extinct. It
is well written and interesting "homc
story good enough and ut enough for
i anybody to read.
! THE GREEN DIAMOND. BY Arthur
Morrison, 800 PIP. s1.tO. \, - e. IA Sc
and Company, Boston. II *.
IT you discovered that a splendid da-
] mond lind been stolen and hidden away BY
i by the thief in a case OF rnreiold wine; and
| If the said case OF rare old vino had como
into your keeping without any intlnat'oll
/ OF its precious freight, and you conse-
/ uuently happened to auction 1t oft by
| bottle, to private individuals, who bought
them merely as good wine, for cash, and
| disappeared to unknown homes; and, II
i this priceless gem chancei to he the celc-
! bra ted i Eye OF Goona. stolen back and
4 10, tn so often that you hal MS good q
| title to 1t as anybody clse-Twhut would
4 you do about II all'
This was the problem that confronted
| Harvey Crook one fine morning, ftcr
|receiying u visit from the willy Hahn, at
/ the formers London hotel Hahn and
Crook had both Just come back home
| from the Delhi Diirbar, where Hahn had
| managed to get his ha mas upon tho Eye
Of Cfoona. Wishing to get the wonderful
gem to England without personal rlsk,
Ihe hit upon the plan of storing IT away
in masnum Of Iokay, one q y ciss !, '..a
| persuading Crook to take charge or u for
1.-The voyage home On the ship Crook
happens to got n glorious offer for the
/ dozen magn,imH from a follow nssenger
and, remembering llahn's statement mat
\ he had bought the wine only as Q llttle
| speculation, he thinks to do HIM q good
I turn ~ closing with il. 'rhc purchaser
4
ono bottle, and, firing Of his whin,, sends
1.-THE remaining eleven to a Southampton
auction house, where, in tho course OF
| events, they arc scattered AMONGST half q
| dozen purchasers. A little later Crook
I discovers Chat one Of these eleven
| magn,rms held q gen, beyond prlcea no
other than tho Eye nf Goona.
How Crook addressed himself to tho
task Of running down Tie several
mlagnums and eXpcctanty peerlng into
lthem. with his eye aertly out for Goonu's
lis the tnle that Mr., Morrison unfolds
|Incldnntally, Crook finds that other mys-
| FERROUS senrchers are hustled OH tho same
lauest. and runs upon a ghastly murder
| or SO. IN the end, however, 1t As Hnhn
mot Crook, who bags the diamond, and
With ,Ilahn's death dies, too the secret
| OF where he stored 1t away; which Is
| d. facile, but rather appointing, ending,
after going to work to get our curiosity
aroused. The story Is fairly Interest
ing though not what we should call alb
{ aHalsfl a ~