The Washington herald., 1915-11-07

music away from EN-. they'd sound exactly,ike
one of George Cohan's songs.
We'll. you know how it runs on. if you've
read any of 'em-he slaps the kings Swiss
body-guards around like everything whenever
they get in his way. He's great fencer. too
Now. I've known of some Chicago men who
were pretty notorious fences. but never heard
of any fencers coming from there. He stands
on the first landing of the royal staircase in
Castle Schutzenfestenstein with cleaning
rapier in his hand. and makes Baltimore broil
of SIX platoons of traitors who come to massa-
ere the said king. And then he has to fight
duels with a couple of chancellors, and foil a
plot by four Austrian archdukes to seize the
kingdom for gasoline-station.
But the great scene is when his rival for
the princess hand. Count Feodor, attacks him
between the portcullis and the ruined chapel.
armed with a mtrailleuse. yataghan. and
couple of Siberian bloodhounds This scene is
what runs the best-seller into the twenty-ninth
edition before the publisher has had time 10
draw check for the advance royalties
The American hero shucks his coat and
throws it over the heads of the bloodhounds,
gives the mitrailleuse slap with his mitt. says
'Yah!' to the yataghan, and lands in Kid Me-
Coy's best style on the counts left eye. OF
course we have neat little prize-fgbt right
then and there. The count-in order to make
the go possible-seems to be an expert at the
art of self-defense, himself; and here we have
the Corbett-Sullivan fight done over into litera-
tlre. The book ends with the broker and the
princess doing John Cecil Clay cover under the
linden-trees on the Gorgonzola Walk. That
winds up. the love-story plenty good enough.
But notice that the book lodges the final is
sue. Even best-seller has sense enough to
shy at either leaving Chicago grain-broker on
the throne of Lobsterpotsdam or bringing over
a real princess to eat fish and potato salad in
an Italian chalet on Michigan Avenue. What
do you think about emp"
Why" said |. 81 hardly know. John.
There's a saying: Love levels all ranks. you
know"
Yes" said Pescud. but these kind of love-
stories are rank-on the level know some
thing about literature. even if am in plate
glass. These kind of books are wrong, and
yet never go into a train but what they pile
EN- up on me. No good can come out of an
international clinch between the Old-World aris-
tocracy and one of us fresh Americans. When
people in real life marry. they generally hunt
up somebody in their own station. A fellow
usually picks out a girl that went to the same
high school and belonged to the same singing
society that he did. When young miionaires
fall in love. they always select the chorus-gir
that likes the same kind of sauce on the lobster
that he does. Washington newspaper CORE
spondents always marry widow ladies ten years
older than themselves who keep boarding
houses. No. sir. you can't make novel sound
right to me when it makes one of {. D. Glib
sons bright young men go abroad and turn
kingdoms upside down just because he's Taft
American and took a course at a gymnasium
And listen how they talk. tool"
Pescud picked up the best-seller and hunted
his page.
Listen at this" said he ''Trevelyan is
Ginning with the Princess Alwyna at the back
end of the tulip-garden. This is how it goes:
Say not so, dearest and sweetest of earth's
fairest flowers. Would | aspire2 You are a
star set high above me in royal heaven;
am only-myself Yet am man. and have
a heart to do and dare. have no title save
that of an uncrowned sovereign; but have
an arm and sword that yet might free Schut-
zenfestenstein from the plots of traitors
Think of Chicago man packing sword.
and talking about freeing anything that sound
ed as much like canned pork as thatl He'd be
much more likely to fight to have an import
duty put on it. -...
4 think | understand you. John" said |.
you want fiction-writers to be- consistent with
their scenes and characters. They shouldn't
mix Turkish pashas with Vermont farmers. or
English dukes with Long Island clam-diggers.
or Italian co,,ntesse ,vith Montan IA cou,hove ar