Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1919-11-04
e pIECEUILS years.
the condition reports issued during the

the convict has honor and heart.
Here our story begins.
Rudolph, we soon learn, has two
aims in venturing incognito into the
filth of Paris. The first is to dis
cover, if he can, the whereabouts of
Mrs. Georges son, German, who has
been taken from her in his youth
by a vicious husband. The second
is to trace. if possible, his lost
daughter, who is supposed to have
died in infancy. 1t is around these
two themes that the romance moves.
In pursuing them NJ. Rudolph is be-
set by every imaginable adventure.
He is locked up in a subterranean
cellar, where the waters of the Seine
slowly creep up to his neck, and
from which predicament the faithful
Slasher rescues him.
In the meantime what of Ger
main? ~. -.
Innumerable traps are laid for his
feet; but from each successive snare
he miraculously escapes. And
throughout this series of entangle-
ments he never abandons his premise
that no mater how depraved, the in
dividual, there is potential good in
all humanity, which, if nurtured, will
blossom into virtue. In consequence
he becomes d sort of "inferior Provt-
dence" to those whom he meets. He
saves the blameless debtor from
prison, and places an honest liveli-
hood within his reach. He does
thousand kindnesses. On the other
hand he does not hesitate to bring
the unworthy to justice. Relentless
ly he causes the eyes of a wretch
who has been pitilsss to the weak
t. be pat o&t that he may know
V 20 " re = be helpless and the
r rey Of the strong.
&t2. Il . network Of crimes
ana their eventual punishment, and
everywhere triumphant we find the
creed that in the breast of human
kind burns a spark of the Divine.
The portion of the tale dealing
with the kidnapping of FIeur-de-
Marie from her home with Mrs
George by Screech Owl, the blinded
schoolmaster and the imp Hobby
is novel in itself. How these
wretches wait for the innocent girl;
convey her to Paris by coach; and
thrust her into the arms of the po-
lice, who in turn deposit her in
prison is exciting reading. From
prison she is released by a written
order, only to fall victim to a. band
of hired ruffians who try to drown
her in the Seine. AS she is float
ing down the river, one of her old
comrades from Saint Lazare leaps
in and saves her life. Next we see
her in a great Paris hospital. and it
is at this juncture that the Grand
Duke Rudolph, of Gerolstein, obtains
trace of her; discovers that she is
his daughter; and bears her in tri-
umph to his magnificent palace to
be transformed from a fugitive of
the streets to her Royal Highness
Amelia. Here, for brief period, we
behold our little Fleur- de- Marie, the
idol of the court, and sought in mar
rage by a prince of the realm.
But the stigma of the past is ever
fresh in the girls mind. She can
not shake it off. Though she adores
her lover, she refuses to wed him,
saying that she "loves him too much
to give him a hand that has been
touched by the ruffians of the CITY,"
Poor, brave Fleur- de- Marie! She at
last seeWks peace in a convent, and
when she dies there, we have no
bled life is ended
We search for him through an
equally ingenious train of happen
ings. With all M. Rudolph's wealth
and aStuteness 1t is no easy task
to find this missing boy who is lost
in the great city of Paris: But he
is found. Like Goualeuse, the young
hero has kept his soul unsullied by
nyi1 JTp0n1 a
has not only refused, but has given
information against those who plot
ted the crime, that they might be
brought to justice. AS a result of
this, good deed, however, he has been
bounded from one end of Paris to
the other. At last he falls a victim
to monster Of crime, Jacques Fer
rand, a corrupt notary, who casts
him into prison on fictitious
charge. Here he is no favorite, for
by scorning to mingle with the vi
ciouS creatures about him he .incurs
their wrath and suspicion, until at
length they dub him a spy and re-
solve to murder him. From this
fate he is saved by the .Slasher, who
appears in the prison just in time
to fell his assailants and pilot him
to his mothers arms and to his pref
ty sweetheart, Rigolette, whom he
now narries.
The skill with which Sue con-
structs his story, introducing charac-
ter after character, and bringing
these varied elements into a unified
whole, is marvel of artistry. 1t is
also interesting to note throughout
-, ON OL1y1n 70 n
medicine-his handling of drugs, his
portrayal of hospital practices, and
other technical touches relative to
his profession. Wherever such data
can be turned to use he does not
hesitate to employ it, fearlessly set
ting forth in black, and white specific
evils of the day that should be
righted. Nor does he shrink from
proclaiming to France, as did Dickens
to England, the defects of the legal
and penal systems Of his country.
A voice so boldly appraised at
time when injustices were many
must have won a hearing, and we
honor Eugene Sue not alone as
pioneer in the novel-writing field,
not alone as prince of story-tellers,
but as a refL rrner of the social and
political evils of his generation.
Copyright, 1919, by the Post Pub
fishing company (The Boston Post)
Copyright in the United Kingdom,
the Dominions, its Colonies and de-
tendencies. under the copyright act.
by the Post Publishing company,
Boston, Mass, L. S. A. All rights
reserved.
published by special arrangement
cate. All rights reserved)