The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-07-27
NEW


| Of fierce nature and Of a pride 40 towering
and insistent az any that We remember In
fiction. We marked q passage describing
him a. he Ia first presented 10 the reader
In his grim castle OF Girnigoe-a fastnsss
in Scotland at the edge OF the North Sea.
The hero purports b write his wi story.
He was an unackDowledGed son, and he
had n-ver seen It's Earl his father before.
Then out Of ar arohway at the upper end
OF the courtyard he records. there issued
q tall man clothed completely In srmor and
ollowed by several retainers. His rudy
fair hair, high flushed face and proud step
proved him TO be the man who held that
little community In the grip OF his steel
glove. Ian OF the Orcades, and yet the rAan
whom I was told was no less than my father.
That is no more han the faint opening
suggestion Of the Esri's great pride; but does
the reader notice here anything having
the semblance OF a grammatical awkward
ness7 We thought that IL should be who
rather than whom" but a. we read along
we noticed an insistenoe upon this con-
struotion. The heroine Of the story. tho
beautiful Lady Margaret Seton. addressing
the hero. and speaking Of his half brother,
Hugh Of the Orcades, who has been shut
up in a royal stronghold, says. Art thou
blindY Art thou a stock1 Hast thou no
sense, What elss shouIdst thou do but take
me with thee to Stirling, whore I may ses
his prison, and where I may 20 to this same
Duke Of Albany, whom I understand 10
/ real King, and there on my knees beg him
! for his ife1" Again. there ID mention Of
a longing in the hero's heart such a. a
wounded creature might have. whom men
I say longs to 20 home to ito haunts to de-:
and still again we read of the Lady Norma
Macleod. whom report falsely proclaimed
| had been divorced" This seems 10 Indicate
! intention and TO embody purpose: and We
have thought IL likely that IL contains an
archaic truth and value, since we cannot
account for il otherwise.
We think il likely. too, that in those eariy
and Drawer DAYS chroniclers were not afraid
of "Iie. and slav.. tbose words 40 easiIv
mixable and 30 terrifying to the timid.
Ian Junior Of the Orcades does not seem to
have been afraid to use a word az he pleased.
He writes (page 2i4): 1T was deepest
night, at that hour whsn campo of war.
being In safety and in no expsctation of
an encmy. are wont to Law down In security.
not sleeping on their arms, to confident
repose, when our midnight attack sailed
forth from the walls Of Castle Girnisoe.-
| We liked that s~entence-liked IL for its
bold -lay" and for much else that ia in 1t.
Il in rugged. not To say rocky. and IL has
! commanded our respect. Az for splitting
the infnitive. Young Ian's pen was A battle
axe at that business. Speaking Of ambition
(page co., Il know none,' he cried, save
to some day leave this place" This 10 a
mere sample. He was always splitting it.
He made the splinters fy. He NAV be said
to have reduced the ininitive to tooth
picks.
Young Ian Of the Orcsdes had a habit OF
faintine in times OF emotion. Repeatedly
we find him performing the climax of
topplins over. That wicked cleric, Ian's
uncle Angus. once said to the young man:
Thy shame is that thou vert born out of
wedlock. and that thou art known to the
world as what is called a bastard, n thy
mother as no wife" The consequences Of
this i'll communication may be found re-
ported by Ian at page 70. We there read:
IT'S a foul liel I cried. thou black. evil
priest. and I had like to have struck at him.
but a mist swan before me. for it all came
upon me now. and in spite Of his i'll face
and serpent tongue | believed him But
I put him by when the truth Of his words
came to me. and rushed blindly. I knew
not where. with one impulse only. to get
away from him and all this hideous thought.
Then it seemed as IL the whole world became
red and then black. and I knew no more.
When I next awoke TO knowledge OF this
world it was weeks after" This. we believe.
was his longest period Of inconsistencies
from simple emotion. but all his swoonings
were fairly thorough. When the Countess
his stepmother sooldsd him and when
Margaret Seton appeared to regard hin
%scornfully "the castle p round and all
was black, and when. another time. Mar
garet Seton Rugged him and CAV him a
kiss he records: There came q double
blackness and knew no more
The old Earl and his Countess were both
Of them proud and stormy creatures. and
Uncle Angus was torn by passions 90 great
that he had fits. Uncle Angus was once
trying to tell how much he hated the Earl
his broth err. IL may he read at page 81:
Words seemed to fail him. so great was
his passion, and the dark purple veins