The Washington herald., 1912-10-27

Two 0O00erlnB OLD men, one I4O0r1no
under the strange deluSion that = littl,
child shall lead the vanquished forcei
Q: the South to victory. though the wal
has been q closed chaptAr for twenty
five years: the child. stolen from Q New
Orleans orphanage to fulfill the prophecy
a. leader. and Cajun Indian woman
engaged to act as nurse for the child
who 10 girl. although her quaint alb
ductor thought she was boy-such ara
the characters to whom the reader IL In.
t-oduced in the first chapter.
Some vivid pictures are drawn Of the
bayou land Of southern Louisiana, and
then the scene shifts to a small, con.
vcntional town in Iowa. From this point
cEe 10 plunged into whirlpool Of love
romance. politics, and common sense
There II color. but 1t il SO skillfully
blended that the effect is harmonious
The girl-Aurelie-grows to young WON.
anhood. She has Harvard senior 70,
| q lover, the scion OF the best families
In town and a leader Of the aristocratic
younger set. Aurelie. grown up like q
| wild Mower, dominates every picture. The
tale 10 q contrast Of emotions.
IooNosuo BEGINNINGs OF THE FAR WEST
In tso voaumeS Illustrated By Katharine %
| man. Published b. Macmillan. Prce. T.
The nations of Europe who In the sew
enteenth and eighteenth centuries con-
tended for control of the North Atlantic
sippi Valley were engaged at the same
time IN q less dramatic. but no less fate
ful. tug OF war for the great rivers. the
arid plains. and the wind-swept coasts
Of Western America. France. through
her fur traders, laid hold on the Missis-
sippi and Missouri Rivers and the net
work Of lakes and streams tAat stretch
from the Great Lakes to the Canadian
Rockies. Soon after the peace Of Paris
had given Canada to Great Britain.
Scotch traders of Montreal carried their
enterprises across the Rockies to the Pa
cifc. Long before this. Spanish conQuis-
tadores and Franciscan missionaries had
found their way over the plateau OF
Mexico to the headwaters Of the Rio
Grande and along the western foothills
OF the Coast Range to the harbors OF
San Diego. Monterey. and San Francisco.
Unquestionably. Spain and Great Britain
would have been engaged In an unequal
controversy for possession Of the richest
portion Of North America but for the
intervention OF a new claimant. The
young republic that had wrested the
eastern half Of the continent from the
British Empire and purchased Louisiana
from France did not long hesitate to de-
mand the Floridas. Texas. New Mexico.
California, the watershed of the Colum-
hia River. and Puget Sound as her right
full inheritance.
As to the political merits Of this strug-
gle for possession an economist will not
attempt to decide. The controversies
waged between the United States and
Great Britain in Oregon and between the
United States and Mexico in Texas and
California were adtudicated In advance
OF diplomatic award by thronging set
tiers whose political and economic vision.
no less than their superior industrial ef-
eted country. The self-supporting farmer
took possession Of the land in . sense
not to be disputed. The great estates OF
the Spanish regime. cultivated by forced
labor, and the trade monopoly maintain
ed by the Hudson's Bay Company stified
normal DEVELOPMENT; but the American
ideals Of free land. free labor. and equal
opportunity struck 20 deep root In this
propitious soil that they could not be
dislodged.
A ROMANCE OF BIILY.GoAT HILL: By Ahc-
Hogan Rics. Published by the Century Company.
New York
One Of the latest calculable things
about romantic optimism is its power to
transform appearances. yet keep bal
ance OF truth: to glaze over an old fig
IRE until its former outlines are en-
tirely lost. BY virtue of this quality
Mrs Rice shows US poverty. grim.
hard, and cruel, but never sordid or
vile or hopeIessly perverted. There is
nothing new in Romance of Billy-Goat
Hill" II the spirit were as hackneyed
as the plot the reader would be inclined
to pigeon-hole the story of Miss Lady
along with the other countless tales of
unbudded womanhood finding her soul
after II was too late.
Mrs. Rice devotes considerable space
type at which she is undeniably at her
best. II incidents and bits of CONVEX
sation constantly recurring to the read
er's mind are Indications, the Fathers
family bids fair to become immortal
Marie. faded and 'stringy." who cares
only to wash her black clothes gray:
poor. dumb. gutter-taught Chick. who
decided that he would be happier as a
plumber than as a burglar. and Phin-
on the Ladies' Aid with Salvation
Army pension as his ultimate ambition
only hints Of their possibilities
Nevertheless, the story would then miss
the characters Of Miss Lady's own So
ciety. the climbing Mrs. Sequin. the
philanthropic Mrs. Ivy, the cynical Mr..
Goods. all many times overdone in fic-
IS,
Rice's hands. There is nothing profound
In any of the delineation. and there is
even q bit of unreality observable IL
one scrutinizes carefully, but notwith-
standing, her characters are human as
well as pathetic and humorous and low
able. Perhaps her secret Of such char
acters Is In giving US Just the night
amount Of reality; we are ready to wink
at little illusion for the sake of the
moments comfort.
ST. FRANCIS: By M.ur,c, F.
E0an, United State MiniAer to Denmark Illus
tratsd. Nov York-Ths Century Company Price,
SIS.
There il a little town in central Italy,
called Assist. that every year receives
throngs Of travellers who come almost
like pilgrims approaching a shrine. They
seek to reconstruct, as best they can, in
imagination. the surroundings of a young
man whose fifteen years service among
his neighbors has endeared him to the
v orld as ''Everybody's St Francis"
which Is the happily chosen title Of Dr. |
Egan's new book.
Instead Of drawing upon his extensive |
Information for formal biography, Dr. |
Eean transports one to the time of St |
Francis by means of a simple story, COW |
erfng his earlier years as the registering |
son Of rich. proud merchant; then the |
point when Francis at twenty |
i've. becomes inspired ito renew the |
youth Of Christianity" his unselfish |
service to man, and loving kindness to |
beast, that drew around him hosts of |