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

-
Company Washington: Woodward
& LothrOp.
~ DOTH TARKINGTONS finished
style and pleasant humor have
than in this novel. 1t is desirable
world. that in which the au-
thor chooses that his romance men and
women shall live a world of clean living
and good taste. of laughter without
sting and of such impractical things as
ideals and moral fastidiousness. And so.
although the man about whom the plot
centers. the guest Of Quesnay," has been
almost destroyed by evil ways. the reader
Is led to believe in the possibility of his
complete moral and physical regenera-
ton. The reader Is also expected to
accept as possible the incredible second
sacrifice of a high-spirited and lovely
woman whose faith in the higher self
of the man she loves has outlasted shame
and suffering. And such is Booth Tark-
inetor's own faith in the beautiful that
the reader not only believes but Is glad
to be so artistically coerced.
The story Is told by a palnter-man
whose personality is one of the most at
tractive features OF the DOOR, sell
enaclng. loyal. genially humorous. his
point of view quietly pervades the Whole
extraordinary situation. Pro1. hereoec,
also the so-called scientist. who finally
stands convicted as a nidelist of the most
extravagant type. is a lovable personality,
conceived in a spirit of affectionate farce
The protracted skirmish between Ameoee
and the painter adds to the gayety OF the
situation: and the pleasantly whimsical
romance in which Miss Elliott, with her
nrety ewes eccentric adjectives and warm
heart establishs herself midway in the
plot and in the painters heart, rivals
ont g
plots to facilitate In addition it should
be said that the author has created so
convincing an atmosphere that the quiet
little French town as well as the more
complex world Of Paris live again In ms
pages. 1t is a pleasure to record another
artistic piece of work to record another
finished workman.
I AND ny TRUE LOVE. BY II; A;
Mitchell keays, author of THE Road
to Damascus" etc. Illustrated by
Lester Ralph. Boston: Small, May
nard & Co.
The old device of an estranged man
and wife being brought together again by
the Offices of their child is used again
in this interesting little story. But Tina
the daughter in question. is so original
little being and the fashion in which she
draws together her still young father
and mother is so entirely involuntary on
her part that the tale conveys no hint
of a hackneyed situation. Illiel Sargent
Madame Kitty and Tina are all be-
ings of distinct individuality. and 1t is
not remarkable that the threads which
unite their lives should be tangled. An
interesting feature of the novel is that
Benny Faber, the young lover of Tina
does not appear In person until he ap-
pears, in masterful fashion. to deter
mine the denouement although the out
come of his suit vitality concerns all the
main actors in the story. The attitude
toward marriage of both Madame Kitty"
and her daughter sounds a modern note
in the eternal problem of the feminine
wULNOTH THE WANDERER, Story
Of King Alfred of England. By II.
cott-Inman With Decorations and
Frontispiece by Troy and Margaret
Clurg & Co.
The author has gone back to the Anglo
Saxon saga for the literary type of his
romance Of Wulnoth. The historical set
ting of the story is that period when the
several Gernanic tribes of Norway and
Denmark were struggling with their
brother Saxons for the possession of
England. Wulnoth. of the blood of royal
Cedric of England is cast, child, upon
the coast of Hardacnute of Norway.
There. with his father and mother. he is
sheltered and grows to manhood. thrall,
with the collar of servitude around his
neck. but the companion and protector
of the royal children. Cultured and his
beautiful sister Edgiva. The coming OF
the Danes follows. the destruction of the
kingdom Of Hardacanute, the carrying
away Of Cultured into servitude anc of
the little princess. Through many years
Wunoth wanders. always in search of
the greatest and most powerful lord.
whom he desires to serve. ultimately find
ing peace in the acceptation OF Christian
ity and i'm the service of the great Alfred
of England. whose friend and thane he
becomes. 1t is then that he is able TO
establish Cultured on the throne of North
cumberland and wed Edgiva. whom he
has loved from a child. All of which had
woman but in such language that. at the
time none could understand. The ro-
nance preserves very successfully. in the
main. the archaic form of its model
uses somewhat painfully modern phrase
olegy. and others which are too reminis-
cent of pages out OF English history. But.
the wnoie. the story is worthy of its
great theme and represents much re-
search among the early English sagas.
WEEPING CROSS; an Unworldly Story
BY Henry LOngan Stuart. New York:
Doubleday. Page Co.
II the office of fiction is the presenta-
ton of personality, regardless of the
moral significance of the lives repre-
septed this book is an achievement. If,
however. the public has a right TO demand
that novelist answer the moral problems
which his book raises, weeping Cross
would better not have been written. The
hero is young Irish cavalier. educated
as Jesuit priest, who has failed to COM
plete his training and has served as sol
dier on the continent and on the cavalier
side during the English civil war. Cap
tured by the parliamentary forces he is
sent out to the New England settlement
as an indentured servant. There, in the
daughter of his master. he meets a Curl
Ously fascinating woman The story
which follows of a passion so great that
II sweeps the ex-priest, in spite of his in
tention Of returning to the priesthood,
away from his religious and moral
stronghold and makes him the REST
sport for waves Of conflicting impulse is
wonderfully impressive. That the love
does not, until he very close lead to mar
riage is the result of several crcum
stances-the chance that has made of
and breeding, the slave Of the womans
family: the religious scruples of the
Jesuit. but more than all else. the war
ring traits of the two personalities. For
in these two lovers. passionately loving
as they are. are beings destined to wound
each other in proportion they are
forced to love. The woman is warped by
reason of early experiences, the man is
an uneven and chaotic mass of opposing
tendencies. Yet. i'm spite of the fact that
their love begins and is maintained in I'M
holiness. when ii is subjected to the grim
tragedy of Indian warfare it raises into
heroism If never into peace. The out