The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-11-06

to little village in the Kentucky noun tains, where he secures employment as a railroad bookkeeper. At this little vil- lage Kenton meets Edith Strode, a girl of great beauty and naturally happy dis position. who is as unfortunate in her way as Kenton is in his.
 Edith's father, a violent, unreasonable man, has made her life unbearable ever since her elopement with the son of his mortal enemy in Kentucky fued. Drawn together by mutual sympathy, Kenton and Edith form warm friendship in secret.
 Then, as 1t always happens in books and in life, a visiting superintendent of the railroad discovers Kenton's identity At the same time Edith decides that her own life can no longer be endured. To- gether Edith and Kenton leave the little village for New York. On the train they permit themselves to be taken for man and wife, and in order to escape the girls pursuers 1t became necessary, as the pair at interest thought, to keep up this de- ception. In New York a married couple theyt have met on the train accompany them to their boarding house, where Edith and Kenton take adjoining rooms-still as man and wife.
 Without friends or definite prospects Edith and Kenton separately begin dis couraging search for employment in the great town. Virginia Demarest has made this portion of her book particularly sym pathetic and truthful The author has brought out with distinctive clearness the hurt pride of the man, the instinctively protective attitude of the woman as fail- ure follows failure. Meanwhile Edith and Kenton grow more interested in each other, the feeling of comradeship grows until 1t becomes the most important thing in the world to each of them. To out siders they seem ideally married.
 After bit prosperity comes to them and Kenton Is urgent for an immediate marriage. But Edith, though she loves him with all her heart, has misgivings misgivings arising from her reading, from the knowledge of her mothers life-story. from her frank conversations with a mar ried woman who has become her good friend
 Still, seeing Kenton miserable and yielding to the instinct that demands completion, Edith consents to the mar rage. And so they were married to live happy ever afterward Everything ap- peared favorable to their increased hap piness. Kenton has an excellent busi- ness position; he and Edith are very much In love, and best of all, they have been freed from the false position in which they have been living But &C., cording to Virginia Demarest, it was not to be. On the contrary, quite the re- verse Edith and Kenton soon find them- selves strangely miserable Jealousy, dis content and self-reproach creep in. For the first time since their acquaintance began they feel i'll at ease in each others s society.
 What did Edith and Kenton do? With out spelling the interest in reading the book it can be explained that they re- pented of their marriage fand went back to what they considered the old joyous oompanionship. Unusual sort of workout for novel? Certainly. But this is an unusual novel. well. worth reading.
 Virginia Demarest has handled. to a more or less extent, the view of mar riage which Tolstoi has urged upon purely religious and philosophical grounds, from the standpoint of com mon sense and common experience. Later Poems. by John Canister Tabb
 Mitchell Kennerley. Esq)
 A gem Of book this Is. A posthumous volume filled with verses which more closely resemble the brief lyrics of Rob- err Herrick than anything that has been written in 300 years. so those who know about such things tell us. For instance
 THE LUTE PLAYER.
 He touched the strings; and To. the