The sun., 1919-07-06
" Smiles a Rose
Of the Cumberlands"

vi the CuInDeTldllQS
THERE is comfort in being able to lay
Il back and realize that hidden away
from the turmoil and heat of the market
places are quiet spots where patient men
are writing over and over the good old
stories which are the bulwarks Of the na-
tion's sentimental life. From year to year
they appear in pale gray bindings bear
ing medallions OF young girls whose fea-
lures are sweet symphonies and whose
lives as revealed within the pages are
heartbreaking for very purity and faith.
".SmiIes," Rose of the CHmberldHds, has
a plot that is hoary with age, but of I'M
aging bloom. Its characters are the same
and may best be described in the authors
own words. We draw attention to the
heroine, "Smiles," or Rose, as seen in her
lowly cottage.
"Her face had the quality of a sweet wild
Hover, delicate, yet hardy enough to stand
up under the stress of a storm. Her
form, untrammeled by combining clothing
and bending naturally, was slender and
lithesome, but full of curves which told
that the bud of childhood was just begin
ming to open into the blossom of early ma
turity"
Without that face and that form and
those curves the story might continue, but
it would never be what it is. This child
of nature lived, as you would know il
there were time to sample her CONVERSE
ton, in the mountains where West Virginia
and Kentucky meet. Though her feet
were bare there was an undefinable some
thing about her which would have led You
to suspect that she was of finer ebay than
those about her. On the day when we
first see her a man might have been
deserted clambering up the side of the adj
jacent mountain, with a square jaw and
decisive manner, dragging his muscular
body forcibly through the underbrush.
"The decision and action were both
characteristic of Donald Mcdonald, in
whose Yankee veins ran the blood of a
dour and purposeful Scottish elan. Ag-
gressive determination showed in every
lineament of his face. Every feature
was strong and rugged, which gave his
countenance an expression masterful to
the point of being almost surly when it
was in repose; but it was face which
caused most men-and women over 30
to turn for a second glance"
Why waste words telling what is here
told so much better than we can hope to
tell til Is it necessary for US to say that
"Smiles" is indeed of finer clay than those
about her and that Donald Mcdonald is
famous surgeon mentioning in the Cum
berlands? Any one who has followed
romance any distance at all will be able
to discern the possibilities. After the
young doctor has climbed the mountain
side he is pursued by dogs and falls
against the door of the cabin wherein
"Smiles" is at work on the evening mea,
for Grandpap. What though in doing
so he causes her to upset kettle of boil
ing stew on her bare feetf Think you
that this can do anything but good in
the endf 1t may not be a pretty begin
ming for a love story, but it is serViceablc.
Mr.. Robinson devotes later chapters OF
his book to intricate descriptions Of deli
cate surgical operations, brings III the
war, clears up the mystery of Rose 5
birth and so rounds out his story to
profitable end.
SMILES A ROSE OF THE CUMBER-