The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-04-10

about '"The Future Life' than we do, | yet, 1t Is most pleasant to read of their | convictions, doubts, hopes and wonder | ings about something of which we can never know anything in this life, only | hope and guess.
 "An Apprentice to Truth" by Helen Huntington. e. P. Putnams Sons) If best sellers meant anything; if a leading position in the list of the sup posedly great six meant anything more than piffle; or, as MT Gelett Burgess in his Lady Mechante'' puts 1t, the best sellers are made by "-- the little girl In Terre Haute who goes down tosthe book store and rummages the counter till she | finds a book with a pretty girl on the cover and illustrations by Misty, plenty of conversation and happy ending-the lit- 1 tie girl that takes it home with a box of | caramels, pins a blanket over the tran som of her door and sits up and reads till 8 O clock and then talks about 1t the next day That's who I want to write for There's a string of 'em from here to San Francisco all reading the same book at the same time. I'd like to marry one of them and find out what they're like. Per- haps I could get an idea how to sell more than 2500 copies them
 | So going back to An Apprentice to Truth" a most superior novel, splendid | ly written, interesting, sparkling on prac- tically every page; Miss Huntington's | book is really too good to. become a best seller.
 | It deals with young girl of New Eng land who goes to live as a companion with her cousin in New York. The plot is slight, really doesn't matter at all. It Is the character drawing, witty remarks and insight shown by this gifted writer | in discussing the hangers-on to New Yorks swelldom.
 The reader jumps from one bit of brightness right on to another, caus- | ing him to retarce his steps, so to speak, to take it all in
 | The reader is struck with, "Conversa- ton was general at present. that is to say MT. Bishop talked and every one else listened Mir. Bishop had dined out in New York for 35 years and been mel lowed by much good wine. He had ob- served a great deal and reflected very little, which made him genial and in teresting He was a short, plump little man with something sleek and glistening about him, like a pigeon"
 Speaking of one man: '"The man is an | egotist. He swarms with himself as a street dog does with fieas." Of a rather loud woman in the books: At home they might have avoided Mrs. Thompson, l but travel broadens the mind, at least, for the time being. and they greeted her with what seemed like pleasure. Trav- cling with this young couple was a lady of 50, Mrs. Eaton. This lady had stained ] her hair red, the better to match, one might fancy, ardent and impetuous soul: her plump cheeks were lined and creased and her figure had taken on the muscleless roundness of middle age, but her profile was good, her eyes bright and her smile very intimate and sympathetic. Though delightful as a friend, she was | troubling as 8 mother and as wife im- possible. She was therefore obliged to travel with acquaintances instead of her husband and children and she wisely chose her companions among well-man- nered non-entities like the Hurlburts. Mrs. Eaton's taste in dress was for the dramatic; she liked long chains of tur- quoise, collarless blouses and other fam tasies. just as in life she wanted the pic turesque and unusual"
 You don't have to have an 'illustra- | tion in color of Mrs. Eaton after that discussion of her, do you? Well. An Ap- prentice to Truth Is full of delightful pen pictures of people and things; a most worthy novel 1t Is really If your mind is above "best sellers, you'll enjoy Miss Huntingtons delightful story, and If it isn't, well-never mind.
 | From the Bottom Up, by Alexander
 Irvine. Doubleday. Page & Co.)
 This Is the unique autobiography of a ditc ch-digger, soldier, miner, socialist, preacher and what-not; anything ready to his hand. In the story of his life up to date, MT. Irvine, socialist tells how he worked himself up from ditch-digger and coal miner to groom, to sailor. to sol dier, to driver of New York milk vya~on, to publishing, to slum mission- ary--living as he says, all the time MT. | ,.lne is now Hay minister" of the Church of the Ascension in New York
 city.
 Those of us with a certain delcacy, or
 wo~ss to that effect, will think that MT. Irvine mars his book on page by telling us, unnecessarily 1t does seem, that My mother had acquired taste. indeed, it
 was craving for strong drink. and. even from the very small earnings of my fa- ther, managed to satisfy 1t in small measure every day, except Sunday" As MT Irvines mothers "cravings was in-
 cidental to the formers life story, why
 bring 1t in?
 MT. Irvine was born and spent his boy
 hood in Ireland. He enlisted in the Brit ish navy, later going on the Gordon Relief
 Expedition-a. very interesting descrip- | tion of which he gives in the book. Later on yet. he comes to Affiei4ta Where she ] begins ''dshing for men on the Bowery'
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