The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1919-10-12
THE BOOK SHELF
BY THE BIBLIOPHILE

you resolved to put away childish-things
and become an author
! with what gusto you commenced your
I task. You gripped your pencil in your
fist, you clenched your tongue firmly be-
| tween your teeth. you found the first
pages writing themselves as If by magic
/ But the little boy across the way offered
distractions, or perhaps you grew tired
/ of biting your tongue; at any rate, the
| fine young fire gradually burned down,
smoldered, finally went out. Some other
| time, perhaps. you would finish it, So
! into the attic went your great novel, to
lie forgotten through many years, even
tually to be fished out of it's hiding place
and pored over laughed at.
Daisy Ashford, however, was of sterner
stuff Her 9-year-old heart glowed with
a fierce zeal. Her tongue perhaps was
tougher and held out under the strain
far better than most Nothing swerved
her from her determination to produce a
great determination to produce a great
love story, and she pursued her chronicle
of romantic affection as her heroine,
Ethel, loved Bernard--"to the bitter end"
All that was 20 years ago. Having fin
| ished her great work, the young writer
put it away in a bureau drawer and there
| it rested until just recently in innocuo gu
desuetude. When Miss Ashford came
across it by accident she showed it to
! lilaI discerning writer, rank SW1ner-
| ton, who passed it on to j. M. Barrie.
Both were carried away by it, and it
was published. Now it is the literary
sensation of the year in England, selling
a thousand copies a day. 1t has just
appeared in this country and there is no
doubt that the roars of laughter which
are ringing throughout England will be
echoed and re-echoed here.
"A child's book?" perhaps you MUIR
m Yes aertainlU RNy a child ht1t
decidedly not for children. Only
grown-ups. remembering their ridicul-
Gus imaginings and their naive romano
ings can appreciate the howlers that
stand out on the pages of THE Young
Visiters." 1t is novel with purpose,
intensely serious, and every line is a
rib ticker OF unconscious humor.
Mr.. Salteena was an elderly man OF
AZ and was fond of asking people to
stay with him. He had quite young
girl staying with him of Il named Ethel
Monticue One morning Mr.. Salteena
came down to breakfast and found
Ethel had come down first and was
strange" So opens the story. And
thus do the young visitors start out
on their great adventure, and the story
is simply one guffaw after another de-
clares the critic of The Chicago Daily
News" in a clever "Review" of The
Young Visitors" Mr. Salteena's offer
! of marriage is repulsed. This is agony,
cried Mr.. Salteena. clutching hold or
table My life Will be sour grapes
and ashes without you. Be man said
Ethel in .gentle whisper, and l Will
always think of you in warm man
ner" Bernard is the favored of for
tune He resolves to set the scene for
his proposal in the country, when
surrounded by the gay twittering OF
the birds and the smell of the cows,
will lay my suit at her feet" he says
to himself. And at last, having popped
his question. taking the bull by both
horns, he kissed her violently on her
dainty face" whereat the lady becom-
ingly tainted away from joy.
Never has there been painted so
naive. so innocent. so genuine tale OF
romantic love. If we can believe the
testimony of the authoress, high lire
in those late Victorian days was very
high indeed, and not 1T all what our
grandmothers would lead US to under
stand Perhaps the story is bit ex-
aggerated, but certainly it is written
in tone of most solemn sincerity and
it is-there is no other word Tor 1t
| a scream.
| DANGEROUS DAYS"
l ina hor RI GnnrUn I'll.