The San Francisco call., 1904-11-13

tions. Nobody can read of the sweet
life of Mary Blair and not feel better
for so doing.
"The House OF Fulfillment'' is a
love story-not all the love between
man and woman. but in equal part
an exemplification Of the faithful,
patient love of daughter for her in
competent, helpless mother. Mary
Alexina, the daughter of a shrewd
Vermont Blair. and a mother who
possesses only the ease-loving. spirit
less character of a pampered South
ern gentlewoman, combines in odd
mixture the characteristics Of both
parents and is a queer little piece at
best. The death Of her father and
her mothers marriage with a dream
ing poet throws little Mary into the
household OF a bachelor uncle and
maiden aunt in Louisville. After vary
ing experiences under the influence Of
these guardians the prim and some
what prudish girl is brought
into the whirl of society, where
the keeping of watchful eye
upon that irresponsible mother of
hers divides attention with a very di-
verting love affair of her own. How
the girl dominates and even mothers
her chiIdlike parent makes in the
telling the most attractive portion of
the story.
So deftly does the author draw her
various characters and with such
seeming naturalness does one incident
follow upon another. that the reader
finds himself living in the very atmos-
phere of the story from cover to
cover. THE House Of Fulfllment"
seems not so much fiction as reality
softly idealized.
(McClure, Phillips & Co., New
York; illustrated; price 81 500
"Blazed Trail Stories" Is the title
of a book OF Stewart Edward Whites
fugitive tales of lumber camp and
Western reaches that have been col
lected from the magazines in which
they first saw print. Some of them
appeared as far back as 1899, when
the author of "Conjuror's House" and
The Silent Places was yet a fedgling
in the writer's ranks: it is not a mat
ter of very great difficulty to pick out
these early efforts from those of later
inspiration. One of these, THE Girl
in Red" occupies the last place in
the book-a sure mark Of editorial
discretion. Had il been left out al
together neither Mr.. White nor the
reader would have been the loser.
In his tales of the Great West the
writer has not such a sure grip upon
the atmosphere Of his locale as he
shows in the stories Of the forest
lumber camps. With the noteworthy
exception of THE Two Cartridges"
which details how one Alfred was "a
Sheriff first and an Injun-fghter af-
terward." the seven stories OF the
West have a more or less amateurish
setting of properties. The lumber
camp tales, on the other hand, are ex-
cellent; they have dramatic in
tensity of incident and vigorous
portrayal of character, immensely
fascinating both. The story, The
Scaler." though bloodily grewsome. is
powerfully built.
(McClure. Phillips & Co., New
York; price 81 50.)
AS are all of Max Pemberton's
stories, Beatrice Of Venice" his
latest, is chock full Of color, movement
and excitement. This one has to recite
the adventures Of certain Comte de
Joyeuse, aid de camp to Napoleon in
the first italian campaign and like
wise successful squire of DANES in the
matter of the beautiful Beatrice. In
trying to save her beloved city of the
canals from the French the Lady
Beatrice becomes involved in all sorts
of dark plots and sees very little light
breaking in until she meets with the
Comte. In order TO save the French
man from the wrath of her country
men Beatrice smuggles him into her
own house and the plot thickens.
What with a fierce Auel, which the
heroine witnesses in her robe de mutt,
a meeting with the Little Corporal
himself and final attack upon her
palace in Verona by maddened patriots
this young woman has her share of ex-
element in plenty. Does it all end
happily well really now that would
be telling.
(Dodd, Mead & Co. New York;
illustrated; price 81 5O.)
The Flight Of Moth" by Emily
Post, is a lively book. full Of keen wit
ticisms and not a little genuine satire
Though the author has rather unfor-
tunately utilized the hackneyed old
style of conveying her story through
long and wordy letters, 1t must be ad-
mitted that very few of this kind Of
novel surpass The Flight of Moth"
in sprightliness of style and breezy