The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1907-12-15
THE HALO. by Bettina Won Hutton.
Dodd.l, Mead s Company, of New

THE HALO. BY Bettina Won Hutton.
81 Dodd. Mead s. Company, of New
York. si.5U.
The clever author of Pam ana
'Pam Decides" is woman who can u
the Intelligent class of American read
crs. who admire her art In character
ization. her keen insight into human
nature. her acumen and vivacity IN
style. Her last book centres around
man, and that man musician AMI
u violinist with the musical tempera-
ment.
He lives with halo .encircling his
hrows, placed there by the people who
insist on viewing from an artistic
and not from a realistic standpoint,
Among this class Is Bright Kings
mead, sister of the Earl of Kings
mead. and rather remarkable girl
the violinists son and afterward finds
out that she really loves the musician
himself.
The description OF Tommy Kings
mead. the boy in distinction from the
Earl of Kingsmead. is most entertain
ing. The next best character In the
book and one admirably drawn is that
OF Felicite. the wife of the violinist,
mans faults and feelings. but one to
whom she Is always faithful and de-
voted.
The book ends tragically. Felicite
dies suddenly. Then the mists q ro g,
brought by the shock to the UNDER
standing OF his own heart. SITS by the
ssideto his dead and says: II have not
been good man. ] haye loved many
women. ,or thought did: j have be-
trayed her love for me; tave-enfln.
1 have not been good. But 1T ali
meant nothing. She was the bride OF
my youth. the companion of my-of
my young manhood, and know now
that after all and gnifo nf al
have loved only her"
BE laid the roses on the pillow near
her little peaceful face. and then sat
down again.
In her husbands ancestral home. the
romantic old Castle OF Steinbach. with
its gray stone turrets and time-worn
walls Baroness Won Hutton writes
started Oil theme. she works hard
every day for hours at a stretch in
:. white heat of creative enthusiasm.
10 one nay disturb her till her al
.mall boy and girl, who speak three
languages. The baroness u.s. above all
things, cosmopolitan, and she has en-
, 10Y rare opportunities of exercising
many unbeaten tracks and out-of-
The way corners of the world, as well
as In New York and in, most of the
gn15;ss Of Europe. Her pictures Of
Noohll mouse society In
Pam are admirably and faithfullv
done, and reveal the authors famii.
itarity with the life she describes. For
me me, author Is very popular in English
ssScietS. Besides her literary talent.
comPlishinents. She is a brilliant con
Vcrsationalist and tells stories nearly
as Well as she writes them. Her ine
voice has been we'll trained, and she
sings and plays charmingly. 1t is not
SURPRISING. therefore. that she should
be much sought after in society on
both sides of the Atlantic.
sHEAvEs. BY Z. F. BENSON. Double
day Page & Co, of New yory,
through Miller G. Rhoads. OF Rich
nlond. s1.40.
Mr.. Benson is virils writer and n,
has used much of his art in furnish,
Ing hook entertainment in This III.
last effTrt.
He has been delightful In the de
hneaton of his book people. who ar,
always charming to know. never dull
His hero and heroine are the fines
types of their class. Their courtshiI
and marriage make romance whici
absorbs the mind. The problem rre.
disparity In age. the wife being seven
Teen years the senior Of her husband
Both husband and wife are extraor.
dinarily gifted. she as. writer and hi
10y in living and absorbing the beauty
around HIM -.
They are genuine lovers and nothing
hut the difference In THEIR ares sen
arates them. The husband Dies no
realize the difference as the wife does
WHAT II might have come to mean tc
them both, the author only suggests
for the strain put upon the woma n
gallant spirited though she is. i.
broken by swift, decline and earl,
death.
One falls. to wondering over the
question raised. Before this woman
met her fate In meeting her artis
hrsha,rd.. sfc bad many resources ans
happy and useful to the world arouns
her and tn those she loved. Would i
not have been better for her to mr.
SIZE her TRANQUIL ard even course with
out changs that nut upon her resrnn
sibilities too great for her to meet?
Or would her own nature and tia
of the artiNt whose full powers de
veloped undar the stimulus of her in
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