Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-03-07

suffering. but of unstable character, rudi-
mentary morals--in fact, with fatal lack
Of balance that more than suggests the
abnormal.
DEBORAH OF TOD'S. By Mrs. Henry
De La Pasture. author OF Cor
nelius," etc. New Edition. New
York: Z. p. Dutton 6, Co.
There are few women in fiction more
wholly lovable than this Devonshire
farmers daughter transplanted into Lon
don smart society. Granted the posi-
bility of her making a marriage with
such a parsonage as Gen. Sir Arthur
d'Alton-the only unconvincing episode Of
a romance which in other respects keeps
very close to nature-the development of
her nature. with it's mingled yeoman and
patrician blood, is as inevitable as the
unfolding of a flower. The author has
succeeded in conveying the impression
of her individuality in a singularly vivid
manner: from the first page the reader
is never left in doubt of the motive of
her words or of the way she looks when
she speaks them. While Deborah's is
distinctly the dominant personality of the
book, the men and women who act either
counter to her or in accord are we'll
drawn and individual. One feels that the
author knows her London well. The eff
feet of a life of idleness upon normal
human beings Is strongly presented, al
though with an entire absence of I'M
pleasant didacticism or of eXaggeration.
The locality which is first in the re ader's
consciousness and to which. with De-
bOrah, he is glad to return, is the fresh
and smiling Devonshire country. 1t is
in those scenes that the romance has
a strong idyllic charm.
A SHEPHERD OF THE STARS. BY
Nrnn hol - IT
love-" etc. New York: E. P. Dutton
& Co.
There is an altogether individual atmos-
phere in this story of Pickle" and Fee
licia and their doting aunt who tells the
story of their wanderings. The two nieces
decide that Morocco is the exact locality
where their aunt can best regain her
health. To Morocco they forthwith repair.
From their exciting chase of the ship on
which they are to embark to the culmina-
ton of Felicias romance at the close the
voyage to Morocco is different from all
ther expeditions. That is because the au-
thor has known well how to put into words
| the mystery of Africa. and because the
| two fair English girls are surely provoca-
| tive of all the mischief and all the adora-
| ton that comes their way. The incidents
are we'll contrived to exploit the char
acteristic features of the land. as well
| as to make possible the action of the
story. Both native and European char
acters are convincing. The distinctive
| charm of the book Is the human note
! that seems to bring men and women of
the antipodes into fellowship with their
| European visitors.
AT THE FOOT OF THE RAINBOW. BY
Gene Stratton Porter, author of
"Freckles." etc. With Paintings in
| Color by oliver Kemp. Designs and
| Decorations by Ralph Fletcher Sey-
| mour New York: The Outing Pub
fishing Company.
Two men and wOman-there would
| seem to be nothing in this situation that
| has not been worn threadbare. But the
| reader discovers. in this charming idyll of
Central Indiana, an entirely new set of
possibilities in the relations of men and
women. The story of Dannie Micnoun's
| long and loyal devotion; the mingled COM
| edy and tragedy of Jimmie and the pure
! femininity of Mary Malone, make a ro-
nance of rare quality. The homely sin
| cerity of it but makes the drama of
| greater power. There are both fun and
pathos at every stage of the story; and
| the fact that the final catastrophe Is pre-
| cipitated by an incident which in itself is
| farcial marks the closeness to nature
which is the keynote of the whole. The
| fullness of life in Mary Malone which re-
| spends to every joy in the long process
/ sion of the seasons must find an echo In
| the reader. And one can fail to be
| glad when she finds a more complete hap
piness than even a finely growing garden
or prosperously setting hens had been able
| to furnish hitherto. For Jimmie Malone
| inimitable as a 'character'-was a husband
| to whom the epithet unsatisfactory was
| milder than his deserts.
THE LADY OF THE MOUNT. BY Fred
eric S. Isham. With illustrations
| by Lester Ralph. Indianapolis: The
Bobbs-Merrill Company.
Provincial France, where the revolution
airy horrors were fierce echoes. even If
only echoes. of the terror in Paris. is the
{ scene of a stirring romance. The Mount -
a great rock in a vast bay on the north
western coast of France. is ruled over by
the governor of the rock, a stern royalist
/ hn baoi N