The sun., 1912-07-20

! Tho very short stories that Mr. n. u.
Marriott Watson has collected in -Th6
! Tombov and Others" ,John Ian" Com
, panyl arc only sketches. almost EXERCISES
in composition. hut they are artistic and
told with much delicacy. Soine are
amusing studies of tho Young girl about
To blossom into the woman; more deal
with one situation that il approached
from many sides namely. bringing "A
young woman to consent to what a man
asks of her. from marriage TO tho N
of kiss al a fair Several verge ON
impropricty, according to tho older
! British standards: for the convent ions
the young women are tempted to stop over
would present no difficulty in French or
| American fiction tn" author seems
/ to he practising the methods Of the late
Gustavc Droz Of playing with rather
skittish theme in the most lecoro US
language. The sketches are so slight,
however. that they can hardly bc called
stories and much is left 10 the reader 5;
imagination.
Life in the Middle Ages has few attrac-
'ions for Reryl Symons. who writes 18th g
Roses of Crein" Appletons,. This is
"A romance of the crusade against tho
Albigenses. after tho manner Of the lat o
q +. r. James. and opens boldly with
the advent Of solitary horseinan. The
author has gathered mass of antiquarian
information. more or less correct. about
the period; she is fond of historic allusions
that must often be puzzling to the aver
age reader: she describes in great detail
many unpleasant episodes. and particu-
larly the sensuousness Of church people
and the oppression Of the common man
The connecting link In the growing love
Of a naughty heiress for a gallant knight
and troubadour who is her escort from
one end Of France 10 the other. Careful
topography mitigates somewhat a fam
boyant tale of type that has gone out
Of style. There can be no doubt about
the authors earnestness and desire to
take pains. and she has lyrical power
and the ability to deal with picturesque
situations.
There are several entertaining Irish
characters in f.. II. Lipsett's The House
OF Thousand Welcomes" (John Lane
Company who will attract the reader
to the simple love affair that is used
az the thread for the story. The charming
unselfsh doctor. the homesick pensioned
soldier and the other immigrants from
Ireland are all good. On tho other hand
the boarding house full of mismated
American women is very wishywashv
and the authors digreSsions into the con-
dition of Ireland and the good and bad
things in the United States are intoler-
ably dull. Some pleasure may be derived
from the book by judicious and liberal
skipping.
Much information about bermuda il
mingled rather haphazard with the ac-
count of a heartess Irritation in "A Ber-
muda Lily" by Virginia " johnson CThe
A. S. Barnes Company. New York;. The
author unfortunately chooses to nm
comparison with "rhe Tempest" into
the ground and while the heroine ia un-
exceptionable. her Ferdinand is a con-
temptible specimen of the British officer
a "rotter," in modern parlance, and the
substitutes for Prospero. Calban and
Ariel are far from satisfactory. We should
have enjoyed moro of the matter of fact
Bermuda people who have some semblance
of reality. The authors tone ia senti.
mental, both in her description and her