Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1913-10-11
NeW 6ooksN
T. In ReBeMHa
"The Terrible TSvinsu-a Cure for
Melancholy

"The Terrible THins'-a Cure for
Melancholy.
Brilliant, exhilarating, captivating
such are the adjectives which come
into play when one sits down to
characterize the Terrible Twins
Literary history records few such
delightful books. In It's conception It
Is a book for children. In its wit, its
humor, its delineation OF the un-
conscious, spontaneous wisdom OF
children, its picture Of their courage.
their energy and resourceful faculty.
It is unique. Not since the days Of
the "Trotty Book of Elizabeth Stu
art Phelps has anything 50 delightful
about childhood been written; and.
moreover. that classic was concerned
with childhood of a much earlier age.
Little Lord Fauntleroy'' sinks into
utter insignifcance after one reads
THE Terrible Twins"
Violet Anastasia Dangerfeld and
Hyacinth Wolfram Dangerfield, Ere
bus and Terror, respectively. are Gre
atoms. Their presentation is the
manifest proof of the right of their
creator TO be called genius. The
calm, judicial mind of the Terror is
no less remarkable than the feminine
charm, piquaney and audacity of his
beautiful little sister, Erebus.
Though a child In years, she Is al
ready a woman in undaunted spirit.
cacity.
From the moment that one opens
the book TO the end, where Terror
counsels the lover of his mother that.
as he says: Il should think, you
know, that Mum could be rushed
there are narrated such a succession
of surprising incidents that the mind
is kept constantly on the qui eive to
enjoy them. The action of the story
never ceases nor halts and In this re-
spect the story is a lesson to The
playwright.
A delightful foil 70 the character
Of the twins Is their younger COM
panion, Rupert, the son of higher
mathematician. christened by them
Virgins, Rupert to their uncom-
promising intellects being entirely too
pretentious. Virgins is the ''trusty
ally of the twins and when they
conspire to put TO rout wealthy
but vulgar sutton of their mother, one
Captain Baster, of the Hussars, he
becomes the triumphant agent in the
undoing of the captain. A brother Of
Mrs Dangerfleld, quite Disguised with
the 'pally" Baster, had composed a
eouplet which Erebus secretly hears
him reciting. She at once renearses
it with Virgins and, in the captains
presence, before a gentle company,
he repeats It. Here 1t is:
Where did his colonel dig him up.
So young, SO fair, so sweet.
With his shining nose and his square,
square toes2
Was it Wrapping or Basinghall
street,
The story of the cats home, the
manner in which Terror acquires
bicycles fer himself and Erebus, are
inimitably told. but the browning I'M
cident of the book is the twins cap
ture and KIDNAPPING Of the little Ger
man princess and their triumph over
the archduke, her father, and her
duenna, .hideous German baroness
This incident alone, in which the
twins achieve the distinction of ex-
citing international peril, exhibits the
inventive power of the author.
Another touch OF genius Is the act
of Terror when he perceives the in
fatuation of Sir James Morgan.
neighbor, for his mother. There be-
| ing no older male member of his
/ family, the boy. scarce fourteen, goes
| boldly TO Sir James's mansion and
demands TO know his Intentions You
who are sad. you who are afflicted
with melancholy, or "a mere COM
motion of the mind. o'ercharged with
fear and sorrow., take up THE Ter
rible Twins" and your cursed" dis
ease will soon take wings.
The later life of the twins should
be told. and that without delay, by
| their creator
THE TERRIBLE TWINS" BY Ed
gar Jepson, author of The Admi-
rable Tinker" etc. with Illustrations
by Hudson Boothe. This Bobbs-
Merrill Company, Indianapolis, In
diana.