The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-09-01

VI n VI INV y 70 ~
A RomAnco Of RIuhsa' Dodd, Mead 3 Oo.).
A man OF EAAh ere haA bad TINA % gSe Ftchi
and David Helmslsy had improved hs op-
p~ortunitios. They called him King David
he was g money king. u panied N 10 read
Of his treatmsnt Of Inoy SoSroi. He said
TO Lucy: IF I should ask you b marry
me, would you do it1" This was Just after
supper-a grand supper given By King
David at his gorgeous house IN Carlton
House Terrace in honor OF Locy's twenty
first birthday.
There are cynical reflections upon suppsr
at the beginning Of ohAptsr three. They
are too ample to quote In full, but the second
ssntcnCe runs; A well cooked. well served
supper Is . Junction. In which every man
and woman who oan move a Jaw takes
part, and though In plain ~pArlAncs therS
il nothing uRlIer than the act Of putting
food into ones mouth, We have persuaded
ourselves that It 10 q pretty and pleasant
performance enough for US to ask our friends
70 see us do it, But though supper may
be unpleasant 10 behold We are apt TO feel
pleasant after supper, and u surprise
at King David's treatment OF Lucy at such
q time was considerable.
IL may seem reasonable to many that
Lucv should have been pleased with King
David's question. She responded with
entire oandor. The story say that rising.
she confronted him in all her fresh and
youthful beauty, fair n smiling, her
bosom heavins and her eyes dilatine with
eaxerneas,' and said: Il ~would-indeed
I would I would rather marry you than
aNy man In the worldle King David had
been very fond Of Lucy. He had idealiKed
her. Now, after the solaoe OF supper,
and altar an avowal 80 tende and so hatter-
ing, he found IL in his heart to trAnsfx that
fair and heaving bosom with . truly poig-
nant shaft. He told Lucy plainly that II
she had not been willing 70 marry him.
II she had heard his question with indigna-
ton, he would have left her his entire for
tune. As II was, she should not have q penny
Of 10. We can well believe, a. the story
sets forth, that both Lucy and her mother
were bitterly disappointed.
We read on. We see David 60 forth
IN the gIise Of q tramp. He tolls along
dusty roads amid beautiful landscapes.
His ohm u covered with q stubble beard
the ohm Of King David, who 10 worth ST.
O0o,O0Ol Where shall he and some I'M
selfish creature worthy 20 reoetve this
considerable sum Of money when be II
no morei We ind che old mAn at page
40 toning up q dttlCult hill. II the space
proper for this review were % long a. the
hill We should love TO quote the descrtp-
ton Of the closing scene. Il came on TO
storm. The rain beat down upon Earth
the Beautiful and her Lower the Seal Over
theee twain the IightninSs leapcd, and the
thunder played In the sanctuary Of heaven
David felt "a keen stab Of anguish, as
though q knife had been plunged into his
body" He Sat down upon a stone. rolled
from it to the ground, and lost conscious
meas. So he was when Mary Deane found
him.
Mary Deane nursed King David worry
tenderly. Her soup was exoellent-nour-
ishinz and savory. She was distinctly
good looking. Not only did she have "a
calm and noble profile, such as nay be
found In early Greek sculpture 20 have
that alone would DO to give q somewhat
chilly impression. Further, the beholder
would be bound and charmed to remark
"The clear transparency Of her skin, the
soft brilliancy OF her eyes, the wonderful
masses Of her warm bronze brown hair,
the perfect poise Of her figure, he slimness
of her waist, the ~fullness Of her bosom, the
WINE EOunOncSH Vi uoE bhNOhSs OOCoolOu
ally IL happened that "her pretty laugh
rang softly on the silence Suoh wal
Mary 0eane, who nursed old David for a
long time out Of pure human kindness
and without thought OF money. No wonder
that Angus Reay fell in love with her.
Angus had a literary ambition that in
terested us. He was writing a novel. Not
an ordinary work. He said TO David and
Mary Deane: There are plenty OF rag
books called novels, but they are not real
novels There's nothing new In them.
There's no touch OF real, suffering. palpitat-
ing humanity in them. The humanity OF
to-day is infinitely more complex than 1t
was in the days Q. Scott or Dickens, but
there's no Scott or Dickens to epitomize
its character or delineate its temperament.
I want to be the twentieth century Scott
and Dickens rolled into one s~tupendous
literary Titanl" The ambition might have
been Miss Corelli's own. Angus was gull
of views" There are views Of his here
concerning Mr.. Carnegie and the 'pauperis-
ing" of education in Scotland that are
bitter and even ibellous.
The death Of David Is described with the
pathos that Miss Corelli never ~withholds
when the occasion at all calls for it. We
may quote only briefly: He turned his
eyes gratefully toward the stream Of silvery
moonlight that poured through the open
easement. Angels ever bright and FART
he murmured. -" She kissed him, clasp
ing his poor, fral form to her heart as
though he were a child, and tenderly
smoothing back his venerable snow white
hair. A slumberous look Of perfect peace
softened the piteousness Of his dying eyes.
,The only treasurer he mumured family.
The treasure of Heaven-Lovel God bless
you for giving it to me, Mary good-by,
my dearF'
In due time Mary Deane was summoned
10 London to see a solicitor. Her surprise
may be imagined when the solicitor said
TO her: yes, the poor old tramp you
sheltered in your home-the friendless and
penniless stranger you cared for 40 I'M
eelfshly and tenderly was one Of the richest
men in the worldl' And how had David
Helmsley's fortune Of 1000. 900 been be-
slowed? Again the solicitor spoke: 1T il
nv duty to inform you that you, Mary
Deane, are by his last will and Testament
the late David Helmsley's sole heiress. $