The Washington herald., 1913-09-28
ny A. d. JACOBSON.

wBsTwXYs. A VILLAGE CHRONICLE: By S.
Weir Mitchell. New York-Ths Ccntury Com
Taa5.
The scene os DIR. Mitcheil's ''VillaSe
Chronicle" Is the little hamlet Of West
ways. in Pennsylvania. TIE story begins
u the Sos OF last century and ends
right after the close Of the civil war
Just beyond the village, on q greet estate
lives Capt PenhaIlov with his handsome
bJt child.ess wife. Ann, at Grey Pine
and their tofn-boy niece, Leila Grey.
James Penhallow managed the iron miiIs
On the other end Of the village, While ms
wife pursued her happy but energetic e3-
Istonce, full of duties about the house and
garden and the welfare of the village
pecple, and little Leila rompinS about the
woods a free creature with all boys in
s;iEcts.
Into this life came JohL Penhaliow, the
son of James PenhaIIow's brother. whose
widowed mother had died at NeVey, after
rearing him with the peculiar and NOR
bid nctians, which a "self-manufactured
life CT invalidisn' had inspired, to protect
his health. Ali Of this with the natural
effect of making a normal boy abnor-
rnaI!y sensitive. Il is one of the most
charming portions Of DR.. Mitcheirs latest
novel. to follow the ''makinG-oTer" of this
prigg:sh boy under the influence and in
the conpanionship of his little daredevil
cousin, leila Grey, with the background
OF Grey Pine and its older inmates, the
environments OF the woods and the
wholesome country life.
Into this quiet life and the idyllic
hours spent in the congenial compan-
Ionshfp CT the intimate social friend
Mark Rivers, the Episcopal rector
comes the disturbing news of the po-
HtIcaI turmoil. The ominous reflec-
lion of violent antagonism of the great
questions of Presidential candidates in
the spring OF 1856. casting an almost
imperCeptible line of cleavage in the
family in this remote corner OF the
country.
Leila Is sent to school to Baltimore.
Mrs. Penhallow is visited by her cousin,
one of the Maryland Greys, during her
husbands absence. and the episode of
Josiah, the black village barber, in the
attempt to operate the Fugitive Slave
Act, put Ann Penhallow's Southern
principles and he human instincts TO
the test. the latter triumphing.
Next. Ichn Peuhallow is sent on TO
West Point. buchanan is elected Presi-
dent. and al GREY Pine a tacit under
standing is reached between husband
and wife, not TO discuss politics. The
financial raniC Of the late SOS strikes
james Peuhallow q. the mills, and
things go from bad to worse. out of
her personal fortune Mrs. Penhallow
loans her husbands business a consid-
erabIe sum. and events row follow
quickly.
Lincoln is elected. Sumter fired upon,
and the war begins. The Penhallow
mills are given the govern contracts
to make cannons, and the financial dis
sster Of James Penhallow is retrieved;
but il hammers its wedge OF sorrow
and sufrerinEs. dividing husband and
wife. which lasts through the conflict.
Or. Mitchell develops a grand Pathos
and high art in the narration Of this
episode in the following dialogue:
You know, dear Ann, that for two
years or more the mills have been with
out orders. We have been in the most
embarrassing situation. Our debts"-he
was about 10 say, in the South'-"un-
paid. / had to ask you TO help us
We'll. We long ago lessened our force.
To shut down entirely was ruin, but
Uhen We met today We were to decide
whether it was honest to borrow more
money and stagger on. or. as l thought,
honorable to close the mills and realize
Tor our creditors all we could
Ann sat down with a feeling 'Of re-
morse. Why had she not known all this?
Was IL her fault? He had borne it for