Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-11-10

Con Ryan who had labored at the wash
tub while her husband worked the mine
which was to bring them fortune.
Dominic Ryan. the rich widows son. has
been entrapped into foolish marriage
which has separated him from his family
and has meant misery for himself. Rose
Cannon. Bill Cannons daughter, is the.
woman Dominic should have met first.
The pact made between the bonanza king
and Con Ryans widow to rid Dominic of
his wife is marked by practical utility If
of questionable morality.
The study of Bill Cannon. who has so
long been law unto himself and dis
poser of the fortunes of others that he I'M
consciously considers himself outside of the
moral laws. made for others. is an adj
mirabla one. 1t is entirely consistent in
every detail. The grim humor of his nego-
tiatiens with Bernice. Dominic's unwel-
come wife, the respect which Cannon is
compelled to feel for. those qualities in
her which he and she possess in common,
is admirable. Mrs Con Ryan is also con-
vincing in her realism. Rose and Dominic,
we'll presented as they are, are pale be-
side the vivid personalities of those elderly
despots from whom they are descended.
But in keenness of insight and cleverness
of presentation the characterization of Ber-
nice ranks with those of Bill Cannon and
Della Ryan. Miss Bonner has avoided
whatever temptation to melodrama the sit
uation contains and the result has the au-
thority of portrait. The revelation of
Bernys nature at the close. unexpected to
the reader. but Inherent in her tempera-
ment. is a happy device.
THE PLOw-wOMAN. By Eleanor Gates.
author of The Biography of Prairie
Girl" New York: Mcclure. Phillips
& Co. Washngton: Woodward &
,Lothrop.
The story of Dallas Lancaster and her
brave fight for strip Of Dakota prairie
land allows fine opportunity for picture
of pioneer life. In '76 the western frontier,
with its army posts. its desperadoes. its
restless Indians. was wild theater for the
drama of a girls life. But Dallas was
strong enough to act in place of a lame
father, protect a tmid sister and with
stand plotting and violence. How much
of her success was due to qualities that at
tracted the devoted service of two such
dissimilar beings as Lounsbury and Squaw
Charlie. the reader may discover for him
self. Dallas is strongly and sympathetic
cally drawn. and the moor Indian, who "out
of the weakness of the flesh wept under
the torture of the sun dance" and was for
ever after the pariah of his tribe, is pa
thetic. The act by which he forgoes the
opportunity of restoring himself to the
membership of the braves and finds his
death in loya! service shows finer cour-'
age than that of his fellows who tainted
him.
CASA GRANDE; A CALIFORNIA PAS
TORAL. BY Charles Duff Stuart
New York: Henry Holt & Co. Wash.
ington: Ballantyne's
Casa Grande is a ranc!; house in the
Sonoma valley of California. 1t was known
as Casa Grande because OF its size and
commanding situation. The owner, Ned
Miller. young southerner OF gentle birth,
finds it necessary. in making good his title
to an unconfrmed grant. to enter into a
IL
That one of them is a beautiful girl. named
Belle. complexities matters and evolves the
plot Under the novel influences to which
she is subjected, Belle develops from a
charm. The story holds the interest and Is
full of breezy out-of-door life.
THE SHADOW OF THE HOUSE, By Ivan
Strannik. Translated from the French
by Emma A. Clinton. New York: Nc
Clure, Phillips & Co. Washington:
Woodward & Lothrop.
Ivan Stranniks novel is instinct with the
peculiarly poignant realism for which the
Russians are remarkable. The Shadow of
the House shows how the life of a woman
among the old conservative families of st.
Petersburg may be cramped and set awry
through the weight of custom and tradi-
tion-''the shadow of the house.
The story takes Helen-beautifui. ardent,
spirited and loying--through a wistful girl
hood. ignorant marriage and disillusioned
motherhood. At any moment up to her
marriage a word of sympathetic insight
would have saved her from mistake As
1t is she makes her fatal biunder and learns
her bitter lesson. Being Of fine nature she
rises: had she been less, fine she would
have fallen. The narrative of her life
should have been by rights somber. but;
Strannik,s delicacy of treatment, 7qual-s
ity almost of symbolism. wells the essential