Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-12-17

Of a man whose fame as a writer has
been Swallowed by aspersions renectins OF
his personal career. Miss Bisland's intro
0uction is a splendid vindication. and the
letters. written with no thought u pub
lication. give assurance that Hearn was
worthy her faith of many years.
The bulk of the letters, addressed 10
Prof. Basil Hall Chamberlain, touch upon
every subject worth the observation OF a
student. who was spending years in ia
pan that he might be able to write ac-
curately OF the country and its ways.
Other letters are TO w. Il. Mason. and
q few final notes to Mrs. Hearn testify
to the authors devotion to his native
wife. In writing to his friends-ietters
dashed off. generally. after a hard day
Of teaching and literary work-Hearn is
SO spontaneously frank that he says.
somewhere: THE problem of mere daily
the face with eyes of iron" 1t was this
problem of a rich boy suddenly cast
adrift without a cent that led his feet
out of the conventional ruts Of life and
criticism Of those who did not under
stand. The $50 pages give an idea Of the
bulk OF letters, which, Miss Bisland con-
siders. will one day come to be considered
the greatest. the most valuable work
of Lafcadio Hearn's life. He abhorred
personal publicity. He said Of himself:
II should wish to be merely a handful
of dust in a little earthen pot, hid I'M
der the grass where no one knows" And
his editor believes that. had he ever
dreamed that his letters might become
famous they would never have been
written" Several portraits of Hearn add
to the charm Of the book.
THE LADY OF THE LAKE. BY Sir
Walter Scott. bart. Illustrated by
Howard Chandler Christy. Indian
apolis: The Bobbs-Merrill Company.
Mr.. Christy has never done better worl
than in the making Of the thirteen full
page pictures, here reproduced in color
in illustration OF SCOTS poem. He ha.
drawn his figures with great vigor and
grace and has costumed them with pains
taking fidelity to the period. In addition
to these highly artistic illustrations art
numerous marginal drawings in black
and white. slightly tinted, carrying along
the thought of the poem. No more richly
decorative or attractive Christmas volume
has ever been. presented from any press
than this, with its broad plaid covel
decoration giving it an unquestionabls
stamp Of the Highlands.
THE SINGING MOUSE STORIES. By
Emerson Hough. author of THE
Purchase Price," etc. With decora-
tfons by Mayo Bunker. Indianapo-
lis: The Bobbs-Merrill Company.
A singing mouse is liable to overtax
which this book appeals. Children take
loquacious animals as a matter of course
but this is not book for children. One
must have lived and loved and lost. and
kept on living to understand it. A
mouse. whether it sings or gnaws, is q
rodent. And there is nothing about "a
rodent to catch the fancy, as. say. the
smoke from the bachelors cigar Indeed
there is a suggestion Of the "Reveries.'
difference
osopher and other dear writer's, to whom
are given the power to voice emotions
that most OF us may only feel. Each lit.
tie story carries its thread of melody
only thread, but golden one. This il
my room. / live here; and my friends
come here sometimes, such as 1 have
left. There is little to offer them. but
they are welcome to what there is. There
is the table; There is the fire. There
place THE Land Of the Singing Mouse.
but the reader knows that the owner il
man. old. lonely and waiting. There i.
sudden kinship OF wistful emotions be-
tween the two. The man tells the beau
tfful stories and the reader loves them
There is no need for a singing mouse. II
Is the third party that makes a crowd.
HEROES OF CALIFORNIA; The Story
of the Founders Of the Golden State,
~ Narrated by Themselves or
Cleaned from Other Sources. By
George Wharton James, author Of
Through Ramona's Country" etc.
Boston: Little, Brown & Co.
Junipero 'Serro, first and greatest Of a
large army OF pioneers blazed the trail
Of California with cross. He sacrificed
ecclesiastic honors to teach savages the
way to God, and a monument of his labor
stands today in the chain of missions
which the state reckons among her great