New-York tribune., 1905-05-27
NEW FICTION.
Il Be0rish Hero and a Neurotlc
Heroine.


''45- D. Asgplston s' & Co '----o
DORSET DRAR- Iagns OF Country Life 4,rI8 BY M Al
q Francis NfIs. Francis BluhoeiO' "0' ~
2a2 Longmzns, Green dS CO.
"a Dark Lantern" is a curious novel IL 10
an ambitious piece of work long drawn OUT eiiu
written all along the line with as muon sA11 q"
care II is impossible not to feeI IhAl MISS
Robins thinks a good deal Of her fnouve' 11
has taken infinite pains to do 1t )usuce' ouI AOA
a novel SO serious and sincere a DARK bai1-
tern" is surprisingly quick In making tne re~u0'
wonder why It was ever written Ai''S 80
ham. the herctne Is one more Of those neurouc
80, ,-,-,s, ,,ho Of late years have been fut-
te-4ne Ike distracted fowls through the pages OF
the nev novels. She Is proudly placed In Lon
don socastv has every change to marry the
right kind Of g husband. This type OF herolh0'
however never does the mafrer-oI-iacl lhIile'
Kitty throws herself at the head OF q German
przncesing ana then is soandalized because nc
expec4s her TO accept with pleasure the pesll4on
Of a norganatio spouse She recols lrOih ASt
Anton thereupon. but, after the iaShloh "a
rnooustruclk darnsels she retains his image III
be- heart To Miss Robins the situation is
hear+rendingly tragic. To the reader IL Is
merely absurd and matters are not mended py
rbe appearanoe upon the scene Of quite the most
ridiculous hero of tho grand. gloomy and Pc
oTs4lsr striroe we have encountered IN long
time
ouida, in her unregenerate days. might have
painted the Dr.. Garth Vincent OF Miss ROBINS
book. lowering genius who plumbers in and out
of the sickroom with the uncouthness OF a
bear, treats his terrified patient TO constant
doses OF profanity, and, when the poor woman
shows signs Of rebellion, gares at her with eyes
turned red by passion Decidedly an modifying
person is Dr.. Garth Vincent. He is bad enough.
feT1Ire hNOr-
ishness and spasmodic fury. When Miss Robins
pulls out the pathetic stop he becomes simply
,rnpossible This is the way in which she does
tt in q conversation between the heroine and
her nurse:
era cIfSple|thst he's devoted To- DT, Vinosnt has
S ss 81 sFfs PRps RseTlS ssots s vb a ar Of
sonsI pr1de"but he never Sisae2osnbs snat % slTA
an ohos ted me: We know rev 4 he says 'Ive
1nG another word "
We seem as we read this precious passage,
70 be looking on at some fifth-rate melodraIna-
with the calcium light playing over the scene.
and raaudin music lending the last touch TO
the whole dreary business. Another fagrantly
conventional episode IN the tale is that which
involves Kittys father. He is the familiar
scapegrace engaged half the time in dissiPated
courses and half the time In throwing dust in
moon this type is tolerable. We recollect 1t as
having been recently pretty well justified as q
noyeiistic resource by Maarten Martens in that
admirable book Of hts called "Dorothea." But
In "A Dark Lantern" It only serves to increase
the general boredom Moreover, in this case tho
innocent daughter is scarcely TO be pited, for
she is not after all so very innocent She may
spurn the German prince with his insulting Of
fer but, when the time comes, she finds 1t quite
possible to set up housekeeping with Dr. Vim
cent without going through the formality Of
wedding until she and her foul mouthed man Of
genius ind 1T convenient A pretty bookl If
we have spoken of Il at any length, IT Is because
IL is sometimes worth while to show what these
so-caIled strong" novels are really like. "a
Dark Lantern" rs not strong In the wholesome
acceptation Of the word. II is merely rancid and
dull Miss Robins does not Keep US actually in
the sicAroom of her heroine for moro than sixty
seventy pages. but from the beginning to the
end Of her long story, she keeps US in an at
mosphere which is even more offensive than that
OF the sickroom- inasrnllch it is due to NOR
bid hysteria. TO the divagations Of men and
women whose conduct Is steadily abnormal.
And the sad part Of it all is that the author
takes her foolish puppets with appalling serious
ness
After "a Dark Lantern" the whimsicaIities
OK Lady Noggs" come like breath OF spring
across so6den earth Mr.. Jepson has repeated
In this book the success of 1.-The Admirable
Tinker" an exploit for which he deserves much
credit The little heroine OF this book is like
the hero of its predecessor a child Of tufnite
resource. She is fncarnate mischief but there
Is somehow a lovable element IN her quaint
makeup. and II she is often making the peopIs
about her uncomfortable, she is tust as often oc-
cupied In doing the things that mean k1ndness
and a truly sunny nature. LADY Nosrs" 10 u
fairly continuous narrative but IT'S chapters
are also so many more or less independent short
stories They are deity turned and especially
90 We admire the art with which Mr. Jepson
persuaees US TO believe in his extraordinary
heroine es sufficiently natural young person.
The book is al compact of pure fun. No ono
who cares fer hours delightful entertain
rnent should leave It unread
Lole." We presume. was meant to be funny
out the fun escapes US. Perhaps It is because
we have not given sufficient attention to the
Hshete az whom the satire in the book would
appear 10 be directed It may be that he pos
sesses Importance enough in the ewes Of Mr.
chambers to make the writing of a skit around
h1ln worth while. But In that case It would
nave been wiser to have printed 'Iole" privately.
nor circulation among the authors friends. To
Inc oe1ached observer the fooing In this book
ou' q i@1 poet anc his eight lovely daughters
must seem labore& and stodgy performance
decidedly unworthy OF the artistic scbar,a oe
Illustration adopted for the dainttlv n-intad
volume Also there are passages I'm II which are
u the poorest possible taste The aIlusions roada
70 tASH coohes by more than one Of the youne
women described might pass in a comic suorIe
rnent- Their vulgarity is only enhanced h,, +to,
appearance IN a book representing II IS ~ ha
inferred an ambition higher than that of the