Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-11-07

ment which he has introduced are vic
torious in combating the Judd-Falin feud
He accOmplishes the end of the old bar
barrie order, and. ruined as he Is finan-
cially, faces the future. prepared fol-
greater achievements. The book ends
with a note OF pure joy in the love of two
young and ardent beings. The action is
marked by series of dramatic and
forceful scenes.
THE SILVER BUTTERFLY. By Mrs.
Wilson Woodrow With illustrations
by Howard Chandler Christy. Indian
apolis: The Bobbs- Merrill Company.
1t is evident that the author has aimed
in The Silver Butterfly to do nothing
more than tell a story sufficiently enter
tanning to pass an idle hour. There is
nothing of the fine shades of emotion that
have marked some of her work. or the
strong and clear character delineation that
has marked other productions. The plot
is concerned with a lost mine. which is
connected with the fortunes of two spec
tacularly attractive young New York
women. There Is mystery of enameled
chains: there is young New York So
ciety woman who turns fortune teller;
there are love understandings and mis-
understa ndings; there is a prodigal allow
ance of beauty and bravery-and all the
other ingredients of a popular novel.
THE ALTAR STAIRS. BY G. B. Lam
caster. author OF The Spur etc.
New York: Doubleday, Page & Co.
Mr.. Lancaster has already established
a reputation for the portrayal Of life
where raw human nature stands face to
face with circumstance, with nothing OF
convention or order to cloak or protect.
Wherever man may have an opportunity
to establish his will by natural law he
chooses his theater. In this case it is in the
islands of the south seas that Rod Maclean.
whose previous life has shown him half
hero and half devil. has an opportunity
to work his progress out of lawless force
into full manhood. Tricked by circum-
stance, he finds himself in love with the
wife of the worst of the many reckless
beings of whom he is in control. For
weeks HIS enemy is in his power amid
surroundings where law Is unknown. The
and stress is the strength of the book.
Interest in the pictures of life in almost
unknown localities is second only to in
terest in the central drama.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN; the Boy and the
Man. BY James Morgan. author of
Theodore Roosevelt: the Boy and
the Man." New York: The Macmll-
Ian Company. Washington: Bren-
tano.
The author has aimed to make this
book not critical study, but simple
story. The purpose has been to present
in dramatic pictures the struggles and
achievements of common man in whom
the race of common men is exalted A
valuable feature of the work is the chap
ter, "A Course in Lincoln in which an
vol rfc s.- 10 IS
ties in the study of Lincolns life and per-
Sonalfty.
AMABEL CHANNICE. BY Anne Doug
las Sedgwick. author of The Res
cue" etc.
To make out of the sordid unpleasant
ness of the central situation in ''Amabel
Channice' a thing of rare spiritual beau
ty is no mean achievement even for the
delicate perfection of Mrs. Sedgwick's art.
The heroine is a rare woman who mar
ried early a man she could not love.
Then came her brief, mad infatuation for
a young artist, her breaking of the law.
the birth of her son. The story is chiefly
of her life with and her love for her son.
a life lived in the quiet peace of her huS-
bands lonely estate. broken only by oc-
casional and formal visits from him. Her
idealiZatiOn of her husband for his atti-
tude of protection and pity toward her
In her years of sorrow, and her love
changing to sick disgust when he weary
of his dissolute life, turns after many
years to make love to her; her boys fine
nobility when he comes to know his
mothers story. his tender unselfish devo-
ton; these are threads of a plot so I'M
usual as to be almost startling.
The triumph of the book is i'm it's con-
clusion. The scene between mother and
son when she brings herself to tell him
the truth regarding herself and him. be-
lieving that for him 1t will mean the end
plete and lasting loneliness, is mastery
For poignancy of emotional effect few
love romances can equal this drama
wherein the love of mother and son is
raised to it's height of heroic possibility.
MY LIFE. By Josiah Flynt, author of
.'Tramping With Tramps." With an
introduction by Arthur Symons. IL
Illustrated. New York The Outing
Publishing Company.
Josiah Flynt was by nature tramp
AS his biogra pher in this work says OF
him. he was never quite at home under a
roof or in the company of ordinary peo-
pie. where he seemed always like one
caught and detained unwiilingiy" TO
this disposition to depart from the con-
ventionalities of life the world owes a
valuable contribution to the literature OF
sociology. for Flynt's ''Tramping with the
Tramps,' in which he gave an account of
his wanderings with the idlers of the
road. was an enlightening document for
the first time setting forth clearly the en-
vironment and the mental processes of the
American tramp. Flynt died in January.
1907. at the age of thirtyeight His work
was by no means finished. He had pro
Jected many researches into the cond1-
ton of unfortunates whose passion for
wandering was not tempered by an intel
ligent understanding of the social scheme,
and he had virtually completed an auto
biographical sketch which reviewed his
work and furnished the keynote Of ex-