The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-05-16

Tomorrow the first Of the twelve nov
most authors of the world for T 0
urnal,, will begin. Robert Barr
has been selected for opening this liter
airy. tourney and the subject~of the
book, fresh from his pen, is "A Rock
in the Baltic.' A few hints about it's
contents will not spoil it for reading
and will convey some idea of the sort
give to it's readers.
The heroine is Dorothy Amhurst, a
lovely Bar Harbor girl who unexpected
" inherits $15,000,OOO and devotes her
fortune to furthering the most extraor-
binary idea that ever girl conceived.
She disappears, and her vanishing is
strangely connected with the kidnap-
ping Of Prince Lermontoff, Russian
n No. man WIG ; ELECTS to be peasant.
appearance Of Lieutenant Allan Drum
>mond Of his Brittanic majesty's navy,
D 'Artagnan sort Of chap who has won
the heart Of the American heiress. The
rock which gives the title of the story
Is a mysterious uncharted spot Of the
Baltic, seemingly uninhabited save BY
seagulls. Lieutenant Drummond fires q
shell at it from II. M. s. CONSERVATION,
and the rock replies in a most astonish-
ing manner.
Black Mystery Of the Rock.
!. The black mystery Of "The Rockn
tpervadessthe books, in fact, it's key
note. Around this rock Robert Barr
has woven a story of absorbing interest,
and his name makes it unnecessary to
say that there is no claptrap, no cheap
melodrama about the book, but it is
thrilling .thruout and at the same time
clothed in a literary style dignifed,
terse and sparkling. :
Barr characters appeal to the reader
because they are natural, consistent and
true to life. The heroine of the Crock
in the ,Baltic'' is a maiden alive with
womanly, sweetness, yet gallant, re-
sourceful and supremely daring in the
face of peril. Her lover, the dashing
young British officer, loves danger bet
ter than anything but Dorothy. and he
finds it. He fights single-handed against
the whole Russian army and govern
ment,t the treacherous underground
methods of which play a great part in
weaving sand unraveline the plot
Startling, Unexpected.
If one feature Of the book strikes
the reader more than another it is the
startling unexpectedness Of it all. You
cannot foresee the end, nor can you
cdtcu ITO1H one page -WndJ IS going TO
happen on the next. In short, it Is a
book that will keep people lying awake
nights and burning the midnight oil to
read
Robert Barr scarcely needs any intro
| duction to American readers. He claims
America equally with England as the
cradle of his literary career He was,
it is true, born in Great Britain, but he
| was educated in Canada and did his
| first literary work on a Detroit news
paper, writing bright, pungent para
graphs over the signature, "Luke
Sharp a corruption of the English
slang phrase, "look sharp!' So i'm
pregnated was Mr.. Barr with American
sentiment that he brings in much Amer
lean color into many of his novels and
has even laid in the United States the
earlier scenes of his newest and best
novel. "a Rock in the Baltic.'' He
| has also chosen a lovely American girl
as heroine Of his book.
Bars Place in Literature.
Robert Barr founded the Idler maya.
zine with Jerome K. Jerome, and is still
its editor. For a quarter of a century
he has occupied one Of the foremost
places in English literature. .~.
A regular fiction supplement Of T h {
Journal containing big installment
Of "a Rock in the Baltic' will ap.
pear in r h Journ a l tomorrow. The
Sunday Journal will contain the second
instal1ment, and the whole of this thrill
ing story will be completed by the end
OF the month. =. ....% 49,. N.