Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-08-27

pair of young unmarried people to the
strain. of passing themselves or as hus-
band and wife when, so far as the reader
is able to judge. there Is no reason on
earth why they should not be such i'm
reality. A story TO ring right must. like
life. grow out OF its own logic In the
present case the reasons for this assumed
union are poor and insufficient. a discredit
TO the inventive powers of two ordinarily
intelligent people, desiring to avoid it. So,
as foundation the situation is shifty,
resulting, as ii must, in an unsteady Sc
quence OF consistent incident What the
writer desires to develop Is that friend
ship between man and woman. husband
and wife. is the most beautiful and stimu-
lating, the most delicate yet the most en-
during of emotions The girl in the case
Is the one possessed of this notion. nat
uraliy. The oman, not saying much, APP
pears like the average of his kind in re-
spect to the matter. So, the story stag
gers through long period of pIatonic
hysteria into actual marriage. and houn-
ders out again, leaving the girl on a Pts
gah height OF celibatic ecstasy, and the
man. as usual. not saying much. But
there will be another story, despite this
seemingly compliant silence. As docu-
mentary evidence in proof this Is poor
stuff. AS story il is thin in fiber. fiimsy
in fabric.
THE SOUL OF sERF. A Romance al
Love and ValOr Among the Angles
and Saxons. BY J. Breckenridge
Ellis. author Of Twin Starrs," etc.
Chicago: Laird and Lee.
The groundwork of this somewhat am
bilious historic adventure ID a blood-red
story OF the early Angles and Saxons.
One comes from its reading bewildered
by clashing pictures of gluttonous. drunk
en-. sodden men. OF brutal treachery and
burning towns. Of swinging battle axes. Of
crashing skulls and headless bodies.
Threading through this riot of local color
Is the story of a serf's rise to leadership
through loyalty to his chief and a Thor
like heroism In ceaseless warfare. In the
serf's heart, his strongest impelling force,
is the love for a high-born lady, who. at
the outset. looks upon the serf with
naughty scorn. but. who. at the last.
like all vanQuished women andsdogs. lies
whimpering at his feet The strain of
historic fact bears this brand across the
sea to be absorbed, through many ad-
ventures, into the stuff of which Eng
lishmen are made, These days. so
but history stands by in witness of its
main features. giving the glow OF
authentic record to this colorful and ex-
citing romance.
THE DOCTORS LASS. BY Edward C.
Booth. New York: The Century
Company.
Not quite In the style which attracted
Immediate attention to Mr.. Booth as q
skiliful literary creator when he pro-
duced THE Post Girl is this tale of
Yorkshire. Mr.. Booth seems to have de-
veloped somewhat his tendency toward
analysis and the consequence Is that at
times his narrative is checked and delay
ed. with less dialogue than the interest
ing nature of his characters warrants.
woman who is about TO die begs a
former admirer, whose life she wrecked
by her marriage with another, to take her
daughter and rear her in love ard ten
derness. The child, then twelve years OF
age. is received reluctantly into the young
physicians home. where she demands at
lection as her right. Despite the disparity
of their ages the girl grows into a wom-
an upon whom the doctor sets his heart.
He sees her wooed by. an insufferable
young snob of Clergyman and with a
breaking heart agrees to her marriage.
concealing from her the fact Of his love.
Mr.. Booth employs a justifiable agency of
unsettlement, previously introduced, in
the form Of the girls father q dissolute
vagabond, who, after blackmailing the
PIN ysician for several years. finally APP
pears in search of a larger stake and in
his rage makes known his relationship,
with the consequence OF breaking of the
arranged match. Nothing can be supe-
rior to the delicate satire with which Mr..
Booth presents the figures of Rev. Berke-
lev Hislop and his uncle, an aged vicar.
These two are tuft hunters of a particu-
larry insufferable type. and their ac-
quaintance is alone worth the perusal OF