The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-03-26

shelf,'' and follow it's instructions in pro- viding for her family.
 THE LOVE LETTERS OF A MYSTIC By Alma Newton. Frontispiece. The John Lane Co.,. publishers, New York Exquisitely refined, breathing the air
 of wonderfully sensitive nature, which the author must possess in re- gard to the mysteries that encompass
 human life, "The Love Letters of a
 Mystic will make it's appeal 10 the | discriminating reader.
 A tiny little volume beautifully got | ten up in blue and white tells the story ! of a man who has been sent away by ] the woman he loves and told that he must put the ocean between them for
 a whole year-but he may write l Why, this attitude is assumed by the | woman, is much mystery to the man
 as to the reader, who does not find out what 1t is until the letters have very nearly reached the end.
 The man goes to Capri, and there | lives for year and studies music, the thing in life he most loves and in the | meantime, writes the most adorable let | ters to his fair '1ady love-" T must think out" he writes to the lady of his heart, "the uncommon things of life-the things that gather on the borderland of the infinite where the door Is always open if we will but ,knes in reverence and faith, and then pass within" Again he writes. If thoughts are things, there must be so many lovely thing around you; if thoughts materialize in the subtle realms of the ether, then about you there could only be the sweetest and I loveliest things in the world, calling | to you very earnestly, very gently, yet strong in their purity and good will, bringing blessings (for all good thoughts are that), soothing, comfort ing, and guarding the way for you-a way that must always be bright and beautiful, no matter what the cost for me.
 For when he writes this he fears that his lady love will never remove the mysterious barrier between them, that, after all his hopes, she will remain for ever unresponsive, and that all he can do for her will be to send sflovely and loving thoughts to hover over and protect her.
 But he is not minded merely to sit still and suffer the bangs of unrequited love if philosophy can help him, and in the next letter he tells her:
 The philosophical individual tries to find comfort in things, after having been deprived of human championship try now to transmute my love for you into the love of the infinite and it's simple creations. I lie close again to the grass listening to the throb of the earth, feeling profound silence creeping over me, dominating and compelling-bringing realization of my own personal insignificance and that of all detached and separate units, whether they be human or not. There comes a sense of awe and wonder, for anything bigger than ourselves silences us. We may know by the signals" if we are being mastered in this way, for with these signals or tendencies silence comes-we know that 1t is tho still small voice within giving us the key, the true register"
 JEAN OF THE LAZY A"
 By B. M. Bower. Little, Brown & Co.,,
 publishers, Boston.
 Jean of the Lazy A. by B. NJ Bower, has all the colorful charm and fascina- ton of the west with it's mystery and it's romance, and "the movies" in which quite by accident Jean, on account of
 bein ga most skillful horsewoman, be- comes leading actress. How the films are produced and the
 lingo of the movie mem both are given in detail in this clever book and to those who like the movies (and who doesn'tO 1t is interesting to learn that the director must have the ''punch' he is eternally demanding of his actors. and as much enthusiasm for his business as any stage manager of the mall. while the actors themselves often have stunts requiring daredevil courage never need ed within the walls of a theatre.
 Jean of the Lazy A" is quite a de- parture from the beaten path and will prove delightfully."- entertaining for those who care for the movies and theatrical life.
 THE PRAIRIE WIFE
 By Arthur Stringer. Illustrated. The
 Bobbs, Merrill Co.,, publishers, Indian apolis.
 Arthur Stringer has placed his story. ''The Prairie Wife, in the far west and the heroine who alk her life had resided ir cities, knowing nothing whatever of country life, much less the prairies '' otherwise known as ''Dinky-Dunk,' and straightway takes up life in the wilds.
 "Dinky-Dunk'' was Scotch-Canadian, who had taken to wheat-growing after failing as a civil engineer. and the home was tiny shack many miles from the nearest town. No wonder the prairie wife had to let off steam, as it were, somehow and some way, the way she chose being letters to her old friend, Ma tilda Anne It is by means of these let ters that the story is told
 The plot is rose-colored sketches of life
 on those wide prairies which the author apparently loves very dearly. An over- civilized Englishman and young Finnish | peasant girl, who looks like Morse god dess, are the leading characters in a sub- sidiary love story. the main theme be- ing, of course, the welded life of "Dinky-
 Dunk and his wife. They are both very | likeable people and she possesses keen 1f ,l.s1 t~>