The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1919-09-18
THE MYSTERIES OF PARIS
BY EUGENE SUE
Condensation by Miss Sara Ware Bassett

which they won their place in world
literature. When Sue was born the
novel was still a comparatively new
product. There had, it is true, been
books before its advent, for the inven-
ton of printing had put reading mat
ter within the reach of the people,
but until fiction made it's appearance,
most of the material published had
been of religious trend, consisting of
lives of the saints, and treatises on
theology and science. Even then,
such volumes were costly, to say moth
ing of their being of far too ponderous
nature to answer the cravings of
public scantily educated and desir-
Gus for entertainment at a time when
amuSementS were few.
Therefore, when out of this arid
literary waste the novel sprung into
being, we can easily picture the eager
ness with which the hungering masses
fell upon it. Here, at last, was some
thing human and within the scope of
every mans understanding; here, in
fascinating form, were presented not
only characters from the life with
which he was familiar, but also ad-
ventures in those mystic realms of
romance that he had imagined 1t was
ANN "ICIt ~ lI4C ILL sly
Hence, if when reading the very
early novels, or even those of the later
decades to which Sue belonged, we are
conscious Of stilted dialogue, and melo-
dramatic and improbable situations,
let us remember that the writer's of
this era were to no small extent the
pioneers in slarsely trodden wilder
ness Of art; and that when the world
was so new and ALL" in literary de-
velopment, it is marvel that their
| handiWOrk has endured for SO many
years. Sues "Mysteries Of Paris"
penned in 1912, seems touched with
the fires of everlasting youth. Indeed,
, it must possess the charm of universal
! appeal or it would never have held its
place for almost a century. When We
consider how few of our present-day
novels survive a second season, We
are forced to doff our caps to this
artist of the past who, like Steven
son, so well merits the sobriquqet of
''Tusitala, a Teller of Tales" and the
! esecret Of whose spell lies in the
eternal child in us, answering to the
corceries of master story-teller.
! The book in question is labyrinth
of exciting and dramatic happenings,
which cleverly woven together, EN-
! body the authors unique philosophy
| that the quest for good may be made
! quite as seductive a crusade as the
/ quest for evil; the only difference ly-
| ing in the goal toward which one
! turns his steps. Certainly the story
/ bears out this theory, for we are swept
along by the magician's cunning, page
OTTER page, chapter after chapter, pntil
! his creative resources seem limitless.
Never for a instant does our interest
! lag. When the book is finished we
feel that had Sue so ordained he could
have evolved just as many more plots
with an equal degree of ease.
He opens his narrative with scene
| in the SlumS of Paris, where Fleur-de-
Marie, beautiful girl of the streets, is
being viciously attacked by the Slash
er. brute of the underworld. A triv-
, ial quarrel between the two has arisen,
and the man is about to strike the
helpless creature when suddenly a
stranger intervenes, and by superior
! strength and wit, lays low his assail-
ant. The newcomer is NJ. Rudolph,
! who styles himself a painter of fans.
Although poorly CARRIED and speaking
| the jargOn of the pavementS, we speed
| lily realize that he is something other
sition we are soon justified for we
presently learn that in truth M. Ru-
doiph is no other parsonage than his
Royal Highness, the Grand Duke of
| Gerolstein in disguise. The Slasher
! however, does not know this, and
neither does his pretty companion, and
We soon find the three cronieS seated
amiably at a cafe table relating for
one another's amusement the stories
of their past lives.
Rudolph has little to say. He is an
artisan he declares. The Slasher
frankly admits himself to be an es,
capped convict who has served in the
galleys for murder; but with the in
consistency of human nature, he an
nounces that while he has no scruples
against murder, he will not steal
Fleur-de Marie, or Goualeuse, as her
comrades term her, is 16-year-old
waif who has never known any parent
save Screech Owl, a cruel woman from
whom she has fled when a child; nor
has she any home save prison walls
and the haunts of vice. Nevertheless
despite her vile surroundings, she has
kept her soul untainted and is essen
TALLY pure Of heart, being the victim
of environment and circumstances
rather than in votary.
Observing this, Rudolph, whose aim
is ever to give another chance tc
those in whom good is apparent. trans
plants her to a home in the country
where, under the care of Mrs. George
his old nurse, she may grow up in q
wholesome atmosphere. At the same
time he binds the Slasher to him fol
life by Offering him his hand with the
remark. that the convict has honor
and a heart.
Here our story begins.
Rudolph, we soon learn, has two
aims in venturing incogniti into the
filth of Paris. The first is to discover
if he can, the whereabouts of Mrs.
Georges son, German, who has beer
/ taken from her in his youth, by. vic
ious husband. The second is TO trace
if possible. his lost daughter, who is
. =llpDOsed to have died in infancy T.