Daily Kennebec journal., 1908-11-30
BOOKS AND AUTHORS

clergy, but not of one particular cIercy-
man. And yet it was so exactly like m
dividual clergymen that she received OK.
cited or enthusiastic letters from the PAR
lshloners OF many parishes affirming that
their vicar and he alone could have been
the prototype of Mr.. Gresley.
When writing :Diana Tempest" one Of
the characters, " a very worldly, religious
young female prig." was much in Miss
Cholmondeley's mind She piloted her
through courtship and marriage, invent
ing all her sayings and describing the
wedding and the abhorrent bridegroom
with great minuteness. The book Lad been
printed and sold when one of the yCUng
women who had unconsciously contribut-
ed trait to the character became af-
fianced:-
She Immediately began throwing off with
great dignity as if by clockwork, all the
best things which l had evolved out of
my own brain and had put into the mouth
of my female prig. At first was delight
ed with my own cleverncss and gradually |
became more and more uneasy, and when
l attended the wedding my heart faied'me
altogether. In Diana Tempest | had
described the rich elderly. stout, and gou-
ty bridegroom whom the lady had cap
tured. There he was before my panic
stricken eyes! The wedding was exactly
as 1 had already described it. 1t took
place in London just as | had said The re
membrance that the book had passed
beyond my own control, the irrcvoca-
bility of certain ghastly sentences came
over me- IN flash, together with the GER
tainty that however earnestly l might
deny, swear, take solemn oaths on family
Bibles, nothing, nothing, not even a voice
from heaven, much less that Of a rura
dean still on earth, could make my inno-
cence credible.
Miss Cholmondeley adds that no voice
from heaven sounded and that she never
made any attempt TO self-eXculpation.
margaret Morgan" who wrote '"Tht
Little Adventures of Kitty Tipsy Toe,
is Louise Morgan Sill, whose verses ant
lyrics on more serious themes have at
tracted attention. The adventures Of
little Miss Kitty are told in pretty jing
ling rhyme.
IkuDtIl 1OIdIilc oLol y VI iiS " "
man and the Sword which won thi:
years First Novel Competition" prize
in England, is a tale of the Thirty
Years War, in which the action take!
place mainly in Germany.
"What sort of heroine does a wo
man like best in her bcoks?" is con
undrum propounded by the Londo1
Book Monthly. In answer it has bcel
said that a woman in a theatre is al
ways more interested in the hero of ;
play than i'll the heroine, while he
chief sympathy when she is reading ;
book goes out to the heroine rathe
than to the hero.
The anonymous author of 'The Cra
die of the Rose disclosed at least ON
fact about herself in her new novel
that is that she is IN artist. The sew
eral Watercolor drawings which appea
| in the volume have been made by th
authors own hand. There is the watcl
tower of the fort, where the heroin
plans her conspiracy, the Breton farm
a profusely blooming garden of tn
manor and the ancestral chateau from
| t)ctNcTli lildIClltI ColtftSoC iopIS. AiiN''
sketches carry q suggestion that tn
scenes and the story are associate
with some actual facts which are TIL
secret possession of the writer.
| Mr.. and Mrs Williamson have set
tied down for their usual winters lit
erary work, which will include Il move
of romance and travel in England t
be called "Sct in Silver'-a quotatio
which refers to the seas surrOundin
England. Another story to be brough
out concerns an English pcer-that cvc
popular parsonage in fiction both i
England and in America.
IT has been said of Edward Fit1geT
aid, the translator of Omar khayyan
that he ran away from his wife becaus
he objected to being compelled to Wea
a dress suit. There are writers Stl
who object to the conventional in dres
particularly in the matter of collars
but most of them have found 1T eaSle
| to follow than to resist conventions
Even Bernard Shaw has renounccd hi
red tie for evening wear and has sac
cumbcd to the inevitable. 1T is on!
| the people VINO haven any 'i'iS -
to do that can afford to be eccentric
dress
| J. j. Bell in 4 letter written from III
literary corner in Craigendoran, Scot
land. reminds us what modesty may II
in authors ETHEL" q charming stor
of Mr. Relrs. was an injured book
the fire that invaded the Harper hous
this summer. and the author wro1
| from Clyde cottage: II willingly aSre
to your proposal regarding the !ir'
damaged copies of Ethel l hope,
| naively adds Mr.. Bell, that nothil