The Washington herald., 1919-09-17
The Mysteries of aris
By EUGENE SUE
Condensation by Miss Sara Ware Bassett)


To interpret justly the works OF
Eugene Sue. one must not forget to
take into consideration the epoch at
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 be-
for its advent, for the invention OF
printing had put reading matter
within the reach Of the people; but
until fiction made its appearance
most Of the material published had
been of a religious trend. consisting
of lives OF the saints. and treatises
on theology and science. Even then
such volumes were costly, to say
nothing OF their being far too
ponderOus a nature to answer the
cravings of a public scantily educated
and desirOUs 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 Gag
erness with which the hungering
masses fell upon it. Here. at last,
was something human and within
the scope of the everyday mans un-
derstanding; here. in fascinating
form. were presented not only char
acters from the life with which he
was familiar. but also adventures in
those mystic realms OF romance that
to the thirsty,
Hence, il when reading the very
early novels, or even those of the
later decades to which Sue belonged.
We are conscious of stilted dialogue.
and melOdramatic and improbable
situations, let US remember that the
writers of this era were to no small
extent pioneers in a sparsely trodden
wilderness of'a and that when the
world was so new and ALI in literary
development it is a marvel that their
handiwork has endured for so many
years. Sues Mysteries OF Paris"
penned in 1S42. seems touched with
the fires OF everlasting youth. Indeed,
it must possess the charm of uni
versal appeal or it would never have
held it's place for almost a century.
When We consider how few OF our
present day novels survive a second
season we are forced to dCff our caps
to this artist Of the past, who. like
Stevenson. so well merits the sobri-
quet Of "Tusitala, a Teller of Tales"
and the secret OF whose spell lies in
the eternal child in US answering to
the sorceries OF n master story-teller.
The book in question is a labyrinth
of exciting and dramatic happenings,
which, cIeverly woven together. en-
body the authors unique philosophy
that the quest for good may be made
quite as seductive crusade as the
quest for evil; the only difference
lying 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 cum
ming page after page. chapter after
chapter, until his creative resources
seem limitless. Never, for an instant
does our interest lag. When the book
is finished we feel that had Sue so or
dained he could have evolved just as
many more plots with an equal degree
of ease.
He opens his narrative witt a ccene
in the slums Of Paris. where Fleur-
Marie. a beautiful girl Of the streets.
is being viciously attacked by the
Slasher, a brute of the underworld. A
trivial quarrel between the two has
arisen and the man is about to strike
NllAS AAEl PACoS ClCdNuAC men
stranger interyenes. and by superior
strength and wit lays low the assail-
ant The newcomer is a NJ. Rudolph,
who styles himself a painter of fans.
Although poorly garbed and speaking
the jargon of the pavements. we
speedily realize that he is something
other than he pretends; and in this
supposition we are soon justified, for
presently we learn that in truth NJ.
Rudolph 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 IN
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
ncunces that while he has no scruples
against murder. he will not steal.
Fleur-de-Marie, or GouaIeuse, as her
comrades term her. is a 16-year-
vaif who has never known any parent
save screen owl, g. cruel woman
from whom she has fed when a child:
nor has she had any home save prison
walls and the haunrs~o vice. Never
theless. despite her vile surroundings,
she has kept her soul untaInted and is
es sentially pure OF heart, being the
victim OF environment and circum-
stances rather than its votary.
Observing this, Rodolph, whose aim
is eS to give another chance to
thSe in whom good is apparent.
trttsplants her to a home in the
cEntry. where. under the care of Mrs.
0esrge, his old nurse. she may grow
uh Nn wholesome atmosphere. At
the\sSme time he binds the SIasher to
him NSr life by offering him his hand
with Ne remark that the convict has
honor ahre heart
Here QUIZ story begins.
Rudolph, I'VE soon learn. las two
aims in venSuring incognito into the
Nth Of PariA The first Is to dis
cover, II he Gan. the Whereabouts
Of Mrs. GeorgeS son. Gerraain, who
has been taken fran her in ais youth
by a vicious husband. The second Is