The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-04-28

an is likely to endure. She does, in deed, breathe the breath of life"
 Absurd, preposterous, repellant as the characters of Rochester and Jane may be, trashy" as the story of their loves may at first appear, Charlotte Bronte put into those two characters vital spark of creative genius Analysis cannot discover 1t, reason cannot grasp it-but the subtle thing Is there. Whether people like Jane and whether Rochester ever lived in real life are matters aside from the question. In the story they do live; and that one fact has rescued from oblivion and given a permanent place in English literature to Jane Eyre"
 Y EFT a penniless orphan at an early
 age, Jane Eyre had been reared 1< until she was 10 years old in the house of her maternal uncles widow, Mrs. Reed, who had treated her with great harshness and allowed her own three children to torture the girl as only children can torture each other. Natu- rally strange, moody child, Jane's char aeter had been still further warped by this treatment.
 Mrs. Reed hated the child, and only kept her because of sacred promise she had been forced to make to her dying husband. When, at the age of 10, Jane gave way to one or two outbursts of anger. Mrs. Reed decided to get rid of her altogether, and considered that she was fulfilling her husbands commands literally enough by sending the child to a charity school at Lowood It was a. grim place of privations, suppressions and restrictions Yet Jane was happier there thal she had ever been before. After eight years spent at Lowood Jane be- came a teacher there-a plain-faced thin. pale little teacher, but one who had studied much learned much and was filled with a longing foh less stunted life.
 Her intellect was strong her speech pre- else, her manners cold and reserved. Yet down in her heart she had a warm, wo- manly nature which was only sleeping. like the princess in the story, waiting for the fairy prince to come and waken it.
 Such was Jane when she left Lowood to become governess at Thornfield Hall. She had advertised for such place, and a Mrs. Fairfax had answered her adver- tisement. She found Thornfield Hall 8 fine old house, and Mrs. Fairfax not the owner but a relative of the owner, who acted as housekeeper-
 The owner MT. Edward Fairfax Roch- ester, she was informed, seldom visited the place. Her charge was elfish lit- tie girl, the daughter of a French dancer, whom MT. Rochester had protected" at a prosaically disreputable period of his career.
 Before Jane went to Thornfeld, her old nurse Bessie, came to see her and told her that shortly before a MT. Eyre of Madeira, who said he was James uncle, had visited Mrs. Reed. He was disap- pointed at not finding Jane there, and said he could not go to Lowood as he had arranged to leave England the next day. This was the first time that Jane had ord nf ba fathers Mrs. Reed had always said in reply to her questions that if any of them were alive they must be beggarly lot" Jane thought of her uncle for day and then forgot him in the new experiences of Thornfield Hall.
 On the day after her arrival, as Mir. Fairfax was showing her over the house, Jane suddenly heard a strange, weird, mirthless laugh, coming from one of the rooms on the third story.
 Tt is Grace Poole. one of the servants" |" said Mrs. Fairfax quickly. "She sews in that room.' The laugh had made James flesh creep. What an undesirable ser want this Grace Poole must ber' thought she.
 One day when Jane had been an inmate of the hall for some time she was re- turning from walk to the neighborng village and sat down on a stile to rest and enjoy the winter landscape on which the sun was just sinking. Suddenly she caught the sound of an approaching steed ridden at a gallop, and then there passed her a solitary horseman spurring hard in the direction of Thornfield Just beyond her the horse slipped and fell She ran to the place of the accident to find the man extricating himself from beneath the fallen horse and swearing volubly as he did so.
 "can I be of any assistance to you?'' asked Jane.
 You can please stand to one side" re- piled the man, and, getting to his feet, he helped up the fallen horse. The stranger had evidently hurt one of his legs. for he limped badly. Again Jane offered her help and finally the horseman, saying. necessity compels me to make you useful" allowed her to assist him in remounting his steed, after which he rode away without a word.
 When she reached the Hall, Jane learned that MT. Rochester had arrived unexpectedly shortly before. That even ing the governess was summoned to the presence of her employer. He was half reclining on a sofa before a fire in the library when she entered. At once Jane recognized him as the stranger whose horse had fallen. She noted his broad, 1etty eyebrows, his square forehead. made squarer by the horizontal sweep of his black hair. She recognized the de- cisi -A nose, more remarkable for charac- ter thar beauty, his full nostrels denoting choler; his grim mouth. chin and jaw. The squareness of his shape harmonized with his physiognomy.
 .'Here is Miss Eyre, sir" announced Hrs, Fairfax.