Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-02-17


the title indicating a wedding. Her re-
iations with a member of the British no
biltty have been sundered, leaving her
comfortable income and a furnished name
and an unfractured heart. She goes TO
Wales not TO hide, but to recuperate after
a strenuous season in London and to avoid
certain enbarrassments which will be more
difficult Tor others than for herself sac
Encounters a family of stif-necked people,
the magnates of the neighborhood. Two of
them fall in love with her, a mere lad ana
a man of her own age. Finally, after the
boy has passed out of ken-for Stbyl is
now bent upon leading a life without flaw
she falls in turn, in love with the eioer
man, the boys cousin. AT last these two
come to an understanding, ana the Wo-
man recoils as one confronted by ven
onous serpent The man, she finds mas
his limitations. He dares to love her, put
not TO marry her. She fees, and the story
erds II is not pleasant. 1t is sadly true.
RANDvAR THE soNGsMTTH; a Ro-
nance of Norumbega. By Ottilie A.
Iiljencrantz author of The ThraH of
Lief the Lucky" &c. New York: Har
per g. Brothers.
Following her former line, which has led
her to a leading position in the ranks of the
younger American novelists. Miss Liljen-
crantz In her latest production tells a tale
of the Norwegian settlement in America.
She departs. however, from the historical
sources which have heretofore furnished the
bases of her stories, and POUNDS this de-
lightful romance upon the theory advanced
In Longfellow's poem. THE Skeleton in
Armor." that the round tower or mill at
Newport was the work of a Swedish viking
who abducted the daughter of a Morse king,
and was blown TO the shores of America
However antiquarians may differ as to the
origin of the tower. Miss Liljencrantz
weaves around it a delect3ble story
coupling the lives of it's occupants of the
second generation with those pf the rulers
of New Norway or 'NOrumbega, as a
nearby settlement was called. Randvar, the
Songsmith, is the son of Rolf the viking,
and Freya, the daughter of King Hide
brand. He loves the free life of the forests
and Companionship with the friendly In
dians. He chances upon the son of Starkad
Jarl ruler of New Norway, just after that
young man has slain his father. He turns
into the wood and later encounters a fOp-
pish courier who bids him inperiously to
attend him to the presence of the noble
maiden who has heard him sing at a dis
lance. Resenting the manner of his sum-
mons. Randvar refuses and is compelled TO
fight the courtman, for which he is hailed to
the presence of the jarl'S daughter. Thus
does he meet The two people VINO influence
his life. the werewolf ridden jarPs SON.
and the naughty, beautiful jaTls daughter
Both capture his heart. The fidelity Of
Rdndvar to poor, beSet Kelvin is treated
by Miss LiiencrantZ in a manner to win
her fresh laurels. She has contrIved to
evoke for the miserable victim of murder
t''iS mama q degree or sympathy seldom IN
Spired by such character. Randv3r and
Olaf, the courtman, are pledged to peace
under pain Of death or Punishment. but
finally Olaf lures the soHgsmith into a fight
and both are desperately wounded The
mad young iarl would take the life of his
best friend. who has faithfully kept his
terrible secret but he cOntrives to fee and
is Joined by the princess, whose reserve has
melted before the arior of his wooing, and
they are welded In the forest by q kindly
priest The climax comes with the shock
ing death OF Olaf and Kelvin, and the selec-
ton Of Randvar and BrynhiId TO rule the
colony. Throughout pulses the red blood
of the Norselnen. Swords flash, the air IS
vibrant with the music of the sea ana forest
and hearts beat tiercely with the elemental
passions Of the primitive days. The volume
is attractively illustrated with a frontispiece
in colors by the kidneys.
THE GREAT REFUSAL By Maxwell
Gray author of The Silence of Dean
Maitland,"F&c New York: D. Apple
ton & Co.
OF a distinctly episode character. this
novel is somewhat disappointing to tepse
who remember the strength and continuous
narrative interest of Dean Maitland"
which Is stin read as one OF the great
novels OF a past decade. The theme Is at
tactive. although 1t leads to Utopian
dreams which seem to give the tale the
flavor of a propaganda preachment. The
young son of a British plutocrat who has
pulled himself up by his own boot straps.
feels the shame of the social system which
condemns a great number to hopeless pow
eTty, and permits a few to accumulate use
less wealth He TeuOunceS his chance to
become a power in the money world and
heads a movement for the establishment Of
a brotherhood" colony In East Africa. He
gives up his sweetheart, diSappoints his
father, and altogether plays havoc with the
natural order of things. He is a charming
tg III frr7 hrrte IA
ordinary moods, personally charming and
capable of rising to great heights. Around
him the author groups specimens of the So
cial butterflies, a playing peerless,
grasping Hebraic nobleman who was re
Gently a clothing merchant, the semi-im-
pCveriShed Irish peer with several unmar-
ried daughters. There are also university
friends of young BasSett. who smoke his
cigars and drink his wines, and fill his ears
with theories of the social state. glimpse
Is given of the sweet. wholesome life OF
rural family of small means but high
thoughts. Stretching over considerable
period the story necessarily skips from
stage to sage, leaving long gaps which the
Imagination can bridge only by an effort
The effect Is unfortunate, as there is ma
terlaI in the novel for a strong narrative II
It were more Compactly condensed.
THE ONE WHO SAW. BY Headon Hill,
author of The Duke Decides" &c. H.
Illustrated by Malcolm A. Strauss. New
York: b. W. Dodge Company.
The true lover of the detective story
should never scrutinize the construction too
closely. Just as the process of Analysing a
crime mystery calls for great ability so the
synthesis of q narrative of crime mystery
demands a high order OF talent Now, Mr..
Headon Hill. whose name in unlterary
fields is f. Granger. is not of the first rank
of detective storySwriters. He belongs to a
wider range OF producers, and his present
story is Of the average sort, neither very
good nor very bad 1t is just such detec-
tive story that the charitable and self-tn-
dulgent reader will do better not to pick
to pieces. for there are some flaws in the
construction. For an instance, II not at
all clear why the double-dyed villain, who
is a perfect masterpiece of scoundrelism,
hired 81 burglar to plant a poison bottle in
the desk OF his enemy in order TO have his
own accomplish, a maid in the establish
ment secretly find Ii and carry IL to the
police Inspector. That seems a waste OF en-
erRy when the accomplice could as easily
have lied about where she got the incrimi-
Mating bottle. just why the master villain
seeks a basis for the maids truthfulness in
this small detail is not apparent But, apart
from such Inconsistencies THE One Who
Saw''-which is wholly inadequate title
remains readable example of this class of