The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, June 30, 1901, Page 10

BRAVE story, brave deeds and brave words—therein lies the suc- cess of “The Helmet of Navarre.” It is really a remarkable bit of fiction, considered as the first work of a oung gt nd even when not regarded that light it will more than hold its own with similar novels of to-day. Its charm lies ¥ in its spontaneity and the rapid tal of events, The story carries you along from page to page. You read in spite of v vei all the time vou well krow that it is all de' z 1y improbable play, and 1 good it, You murmur as s said that when the story had magazine r the rizhts. harge of the matter and in due time the »pear on the boards. For the ¥ the stage the book has been literally written over for the play, and great results are promised. This is an excellent point, for by this time peo- ple are tired of the cheap dramatizations of historical noveis that have been -going the rounds. It is no easy matter to adapt a play from a book, and the greatest mis- take is to lift whole chunks of the ncvel out bodily to place in the dialogue—a method that is now proving its own fal- lacy If “The Helmet of Navarre" well dra- matized it will go as a play with the same success that has greeted it as a novel., There are very few pages of Miss Run- kle's book that are occupied by Henry of France in person; still his individuality and cause infiuence the actions of the characters sufficiently to warrant the title *“The Helmet of Navarre.” That boy Felix, who tells the story. goes through enough adventures to the square inch in the shortest time and the most dangerous manner to please the most rab- id youthful reader of Indian literature. It is a eo to have him tell the story 'mse] r you feel sure then that his adventures cannot prove fatal, or other- wise the recital would have been put in some oth mcuth. Even as it is. the mental strain is pretty severe, and there are times when vou nearly lose confidence on his finally ng able to pull through. From the first moment Felix puts his foot in Paris the trouble begins. It has had a good start really before been printed in cal m hot-foot 1 “entury s all oy dramatiza t time, but this all gradually unfolds itself to the astonished reader as the thickens.” Felix serves the Duke of St. Quentin body and soul, although his devotion is a bit shaken by the first reception when, suddenly reporting on duty by climbing over the side of the Duke’s carriage, he is thrown to the ground by the arch villain To explain the arch vilkain's presence at this time by the side of the Duke, it must be stated that just at the beginning of the story the viliain is ting as secretary for the Duke and incidentally spying out his affairs for the benefit of the Duke of Mayenne—another villain, but of the bet- ter sort The honors of hero are divided among the Duke of San Quentin, his son and his page, Felix—there is also Vigo, the man at arm who deserves some atten- tion in this connection. There is only one heroine and of course that one is the relative of the Duke’s arch enemy. She indirectly causes all the trouble, and finally all the happiness. For like the regulation sort of the bravo school the story ends well. You know it must do that before you have read three chapters. If Miss Runkle had dared put her hero, the young Comte de Mar, through all those incredible hairbreadth escapes only 1o dle in the end and iose the beautiful ady of his heart, she would certainly de- rve a letter of censure from one and all her readers. 1\, this book there is no time for sur- gerd of mental insides—as Winston Churchill aptly puts it—Miss Runkie does not peuse to analyze feelings. She relates actions pure and simple and lets the reader draw his own conclusions. The actual time consumed from that period when “all seems lost” to the happy finale in the camp of Henry of France, is only a few days, but there is enough blood spilled per day to compare favorably with an In- dian raid in an up to date Arizona frontier town. Yet, so skillful is the author, all this shedding of gore seems natural enough and the most extraordinary incidents are made to appear plausible—that is art. On one page the Duke thinks that his son is going to murder him because he would not let his son marry the cousin of Mayenne. Felix thinks so, too, for it is he who brings the information. The reader is neutral. On the next page Felix falls into more discoveries so fast that the reader almost loses his breath, and it is established that the Comte did not intend to take his father's life. Later, quite by accident, the Comte de Mear and Felix arrive just in time to save the Duke’'s life and then the Duke finds out his mistake and promises to win the girl for his son. So far everything is lovely. But tlen there is the crafty villain, Lu- cas, to be reckoned with, as well as May- ennes with all his power. Lucas. who is really 1 nephew of May- enne with a bar sinister on his scutcheon, plays the villain very satisfactorily. Foiled in his first a‘tempt he keeps up the good work, according to his lights, of try ing to get rid of De Mar and marry the girl himself. But Felix, with more luck than you even read about, Is always on hand just at the opportune moment to hear the plan and work a counter-plot. There is not much time in the story for love making, but you know all along that the deep, true, passionate and lasting af- fection is there, o it is all right. There are more broken swords and broken heads than broken hearts in the tale. For plots, ingenious disguises discovered by the falr sex, street fights in the dark, doors that -cven to catch the hero and Felix just as they are about to be run through by a score of swords, escapes through tunnels and trap doors, reprieves from death in the Bastille—there are enough in “The Helmet of Navarre” to make Stanley Weyman fearful for his laurels. “The Helmet of Navarre” is certainly melodramatic, but it §s written with a dash and style that would cover a multi- tud> of sawmills and “real water.” The vocabulary is not strained and the dia- logue is natural. They say that to see Bertha Runkle at her summer home in the Catskllls riding arcund with the pony and cart bought from the check the Century Company sent. when “The Helmet of Navarre” was ac- cepted you would never take her for the author of such a work. But then authors never look nor act quite as one expects Miss Runkle seems to be a charming American girl who can wear her hair down her back and enjoy out of docr life or dance at a hop with the most natural and simple of our maids. It is to be hoped her success will not turn her head. If yvou want a that will freezs vour blood on a summer night, if you are looking for something to read story that will make vou almost afraid to look into a mirror lest you see the staring eyes of a meriac, if you want a chilling depres- sion like a series of funerals of deaily beloved. if you are looking for any or all of these sensations, get a copy of “Ezra Caine” and take it in large or small doses as the case requires Ther: story that would tickle even the fancy of Poe to be able to sign his name to it. Of its kind it is excellent. For any one with a vivid imagination it is too strons for use except in the most homeopathic doses 3 Ezra Caine, who gives his name to the story, the son of a maniac. this story himself from the cell of an asylom. His insanity is of the most dangerous sort, for it is that that craves the taking of human life. To make this man more dangerous, he is not one of the common sort, but has been raised in a refined way. All of his education, however, has but tended to make him cunning beyond the average, £nd therefore with his mentality, physical power and murderous instincts combined, he is a creature half human, half beast. A personality that makes the blood run cold. In his tale he starts from the beginning n the old house with his devoted mother by his side, and with the first hearing of things and seelng of faces that exist in his imagination alone. From this he goes on step by step analyzing feelings and sensations as the madness gradually creeps into his veins, until, in its climax, he throttles his pursuing demon—the doc- tor—and escapes to the fields to run mad- 1y over hill and dale through the night, iy v to be caught at last and doomeld for Jife to the padded cell. That account, as he tells it himself, of his flight after the murder is enough of horror to satisfy the greatest lover of the morbid. There is only one more frightful passage in the book, and that is where he tells of his fight with and murder of the doctor. It is the maniac describing his own sensations. He sees this doctor come into the dark- ened room of the attic where he has hid- den. He looks at the intruder at first in a calm, dispassionate light as if he con- cerned him not at all. Ezra even imagines that it is his fathcr and not himself standing by the erulow waiting for this muscular doctor to attack. The next Instant it seems to this ‘mad- man that he is standing apart watching these two figures bend and sway and strike in mortal combat. Then he sees the doctor force back the other figure and ch with his hand to grasp it by the He sees this figure seize the doc- tor's thumb in its strong white teeth: Just at this point a sort of whirl came into my drowsy head and the next instant I found that it was I who was straining and fighting, that it was I who was crunching and snarling with a thick, hairy thumb in my mouth. He kills the doctor in as brutal a man- ner as his description of the battle is brutish. “Ezra Caine” is the first work from the pen of Joseph Sharts. Of its kind it is a gem and well shows the hand of a pow- erful writer, keen in psychological analy- gis and endowed with a most vivid imag- ination. It is to be hoped that we shall hear from him again in more_ pleasant vein. “Ezra Caine” is too horrible to recommend as a story. His publishers, Herbert S. Stone & Co., Chicago, have sent me the following about Mr. Sharts himself. It is worth reading, for 1 feel assured we shall hear more from this author. He undoubtedly possesses great talent: For #0 young & man Joseph Sharts has had a varled career. His devotion to Cube end its Iiberty is perhaps its most picturesque inci- dent, for it began back In his college days and prompted him to much gallant help for the cause. Bven while he was still at Harvard, and before the outbreak of the war, he tried which was glving so much trouble to Spain, self to the Cuban.Junta in New York. He was not permitted at that time to join the army which was giving so much trouble to Spain, but later on when the United States took a hand in the quarrel his impatient sympathy drove him to the front. As soon as the Maine was blown up he joined the Ohio militia, knowing that war was inevitable, and when it was actually declared he was among the first to offer his services. His record through that short and sharp struggle is of the most gal- lant, and the charm of the wild and fascinat- ing life made it difficult for him to throw it up in favor of the more prosaic practice of law. It is perhaps because he wished, by way of contrast, to bring a little of the romance of life in the fleld into his law office that he be- gan the writing of novels. ‘“Ezra Caine” is the first fruit of his effort. B. G. LATHROP. The Story-Reader. “The Story Reader,” by Alfred E. Logie and Claire H. Uecke, assisted by Sarah He writes * Sor o RS Dt (naS 4k A. Milner, principal of Madison Avenue Scheol, Chicago, is the latest addition to the Eclectic Scheol Readings. It furnishes a series of simple and interesting stories, carefully graded and attractively illus- trated, and well svited to appeal to a va- riety of interests in children., Many of these stories suggest seat work, not a few can be casily dramatized. and some are based on the child's tendency to imitate the sceial world abcut him. Valuable sug- gestions are printed in the back of the book to guide the teacher in supplement- ary work based on the themes of the storfes. The material here presented was selected from a much larger amount which had been thoroughly and carefully tested in the classroom, and the book is therefore entirely practical in plan and contents. (Published by the American Book Company, New York. Price, 30 cents.) The Disciple. iple Paul Bourget, shed more than a decade ago, Is now jssued by the Scribners. It is perhaps the best thing which Bourget has written. To those who enjoy a description of the evo- lution of a personality this book can be commended highly. It is In its main pur- pose an arralgnment of the philosophy of atheism and a description of the degen- eration of conduct which, as a rule, re- sults from an absence of belief in the ob- ligations imposed by a moral law which overrules the inclinations and the passions of mankind. The story told in “The Disciple” is in itself simple. A leading French pbilos- opher, Adrien Sixte, is a man of noble mplicity of character. He devotes his whole life to the investigation of philo- sophical problems. As a result of his studies he publishes several treatises, in which he endeavors to prove by logical argument, strengthened by illustrations from the phenomena of the natural sciences, tha man is the measure.of all things, it is impossible with justice to hold a man responsible for not complying with customs which may not accord with his individual tastes, and further, that the doctrine of moral responsibility, which assumes that every man born in a society is answerable in a greater or less degree for the happiness of the other members of the community, is but an idle myth. A young Frenchman, Robert Greslan, becomes acquainted with the works of Sixte and finds in them a philosophy whose tenets are in accord with his own vie Unfortunately, Greslan is, un Sixte, a man in whom evil passions strug- gle for mastery with noble traits of char- acter. Accepting with enthusiasm the philosophy of Sixte, Greslan finds In its study an intellectual delight and in the application of its principles to his own conduct an excuse for the indulgence of his passions. At last Breslan finds t even if, according to his philosophy, ‘he is accountable for his actions only to him- self, before the law he must stand ready to answer for them. Greslan's career ends in disaster and he appeals to Sixte to aid him, telling the philosopher that his conduct has been influenced by the writings of Sixte, and therefore that they are responsible for the trouble into which it leads him. So Sixte finds that, however miich he may deny the real existence of moral re- sponsibility, while men are bound together in a society, the consequences which fol- low from a man'’s actions, by affecting all society, make it imperative to accept as an hypothesis, if not as a demonstrable truth, the theory that the preservation of soclety makes necessary criticlsm of conduct according to a definite standard of right and wrong. The tale the book tells i= a sad one, as must be all descriptions of the harvest of sorrow inevitably reaped by those who sow the seeds of selfish desires; but the great lesson it teaches is set forth so foreibly that it is worthy of more than one perusal. (Published by Charles Serib- ner's Sons, New York. Price $150.) The Wilderness Road. Those who have read and enjoyed the historical novels of Joseph A. Altsheler will know what to expect from his latest work, “The Wilderness Road,” a romance of the Indian wars which were fought near the Ohio at the beginning of the nineteenth century. The story is well written. The account of stirring histori- cal events shares Interest with the de- seription of the adventures of the hero, John Lee. Lee has been an officer In the Contl- nental army. At the close of the revolu- tion he was accused of treason, but for some reason not hanged. [nable to bear the odium he has incurred, Lee seeks a home in the wilderness of the West, and by his nobility and bravery galns among the frontiersmen the friends which he ex- pected never to have again after the ac- cusation brought against him. For a num- ber of years Lee lives among the woods, where he gains a knowledge of the woods craft and warfare of the Indians, neces- sary in those troublous times for those who would live near them in safety. A wealthy man named Carew goes from Philadelphia to the West, where he hopes to realize dreams of ambition by acquir- ing an immense estate on the broadening frontier of the mation. He s accompanied by his daughter. Soon after thelr arrival Rose Carew is captured by the Indians. At this time General St. Clair Is about to start out on an expedjtion against the In- dians, who have been collecting a large army to resist the encroachments of the whites upon their territory. Lee joins the army of St. Clair as a scout. After the terrible defeat of the Americans by the Indians, Lee takes a few companions and seeks the delivery of Rose Carew, which he effects with gr it heroism. Afterward comes the attempt of General Anthony Wayne to break the power of the Indians, which after St. Clair's defeat was spent In inflicting every kind of bar- barity and torture upon the scattered set- tlers near the Ohlo. Lee plays an active part in Wayne's campaign. After the splendid vietory of the Americans, he re- turns to his old home in Philadelphia to find reward for his bravery in exoneration of the charge of treason. and in the love of Rose Carew. (Published by D. Apple- ton & Co., New York. Price $150.) The Spanish People. D. Appleton & Co., New York, are pub- lishing a series of “The Great Peoples,” edited by Dr. York Powell of Oxford Uni- versity. The first volume of this series is “The Spanish People,” and it promises well for the success of the scheme. This volume takes up the origin, growth and Influence of the Spanish people, and is by Martin A. S. Hume, author of “The Great Lord Burleigh,” ‘“‘The Courtships of Queen Elizabeth,” and editor of “Cal- endar of Spanish State Papers,” ete. In tracing the evolution of a highly compcsite people from its varfous racial vnits, the author points out thar Spain/ was the battle ground upon which was decided the form Into which modern el ilization should be molded—whether Aryan or Semite, Christian or Moslem. THE SUNDAY CALL The country became the preserver and tragsmitter of many survivals of van- ished anclent systems, and the culfure of Spaln was in a sense an epitome of varlcus rival systems which in historle times have divided the world. The ser- vices of Spanfards to th. Roman empire, the mystic spiritual -xaltation of the sixteenil: century and the far-reaching explorations and conquests cf Spaniaris, the services rendered by Spain to Latin literature, the preservation of the Roman svsiem of jurisdiction in Spain, and the influence of Spain upon religivn, litera- ture and, the stage, are fully indicated in this book. One of the writer's chief ob- jects has been to describe the develop- ment of a whole people and to trace the vicissitudes of this peculiarly complex race to primitive causes. His story- of the evolution of the Spanish people i3 told from a fresh point of view. Dr. Hume writes with all the advantages oi the modern historical specialist, and kis sicture of the development of the Span- will be found a fresh and most im- portant histors of a great people, whose saricd srd nieturesque caiec: is one of untailing interest. (Piice 5! a0 John Winslow. A poor imitation of “David Harum' has been written by Henry D. Northrop and called “John Winslow.” The scene of the story is laid In New York State. The hero is an uncultivated man with a fund of native wit and with suficient wealth to enable him to indulge his generous im- pulses. There is in the book material for a good story, but it is used with so little skill that what might have been made an interesting account of the simple life of quaint country people becomes, for the most part, ‘an Inartistic jumble of forced wit and uninteresting scenes. (Published by G. W. Dillingham Company, New York. Price $150.) S tertaining. Taken as a whole the collec- tion is in merit far above the average short storfes. (Published by Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Boston. Price, $1 25.) Chips. The second volume of “Chips,” a col- lege annual published by the junior class of the dental department of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of San Fran- cisco, has just been put before the read- ing world./ Like all publications of this character it appeals more particularly to students of the various classes in that col- lege and to the recent alumni. There are plenty- of good joshes on fellow classmen; good half-tone reproductions of class and fraternal photographs; photos and brief biographies of the various professors of the institution. The editorial staff has done good work and has a right to lLe justly proud of its efforts. It includes the following names: Robert=Burns Jr., editor* in chief; W. M. Clark, assistant cditor; B. C. Best, assistant editor; W. ‘W. Goode, busiress manager; J. S. Wren, assistant business manager; H.. G. Schroeder, artist. Without a Warrant. An amusing story. though improbable and somewhat absurd. is “Without -a Warrant,” by Hildegard Brooks. It re- counts the adventures of a Northern girl who is spending a summer in the South, and who is captured and held as a pris- oner for several days by a party of men whom she supposes to be outlaws and murderers. The men turn out to be citi- zens of worth and reputation. One of them, at the end of a series of exciting adventures in which the heroine is com- pelled to play a part, succeeds in gaining her forgiveness for having detained her, returns her to her family and wins her love. (Published by Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York. Price $150.) =5 POST WHEELER. NST WHEELER is of English parentage, the son of the Rev. Dr. Henry Wheeler of Philadelphia. Ten yecars ago he was graduated from Prince- ton Universify, one of the brilllant circle which composed, besides, Booth Tarkington, Walter Wyckoft (author of “The Workers"), James Barnes (the naval historian and war correspondent), Jesse Lynch Williams, Rob- ert Bridges and Burton Egbert Stevenson. After graduation he drifted to Lon- don and Paris, in which latter city he. with Israel Zangwill and Paul Verline, led the younger following. A vear after he disappeared from Paris, it was re- ported that he was living with a Bedowa tribe in the mountains below Tangler, Morocco. He returned to this country to receive the degree of Litt. D. from Princeton, and remained in New York for several years. ‘When the famous Klondike ‘‘strike” ' was made, inrushing miners found him living below the Ketchumstock Hills, in the center of Alaska, an adopted mem- ber of a tribe of the Tukudh Indians, who stood in awe of his pens and paper, and called him a white medicine man. In the silences of the long white Arctic night, as well as in the African desert, Mr. Wheeler composed his poems—a strange setting for latter-day verse. A fall while moose hunting sent him back to civilization to heal a lung lacerated by broken #ibs, and since then, finding life in the wilds impossible, time the poems for whicl he has remained in New York, sending out from time to the name “Post Wheeler” is a badge. The first volume which Mr. Wheeler has permitted-to be compiled, “Love- in-a-Mist,” contains 200 peom: Japanese paper. L It is bound In cloth of blue and silver, is printed on extra heavy paper, and has as frontispiece a steel portrait of the author, on \ TUnder the Redwoods. Ten short storles by Bret Harte have Leen published in book form under the title, “Under the Redwood: They are good. Several of them remind one more strongly of the Bret Harte of years ago than most of the stories which he has written lately. The first story, “Jimmy’s Big Brother from California,” is a typical Harte story, with. a chivalrous Western hero, ready to do a kindness, even for stran- gers, without thought of return. The present Westerner, however, finds a re- ward for his self-sacrificing goodness in the love of an attractive Southern girl. The second story. “The Youngest Miss Piper.” is an amusing account of an in- Gependent young girl who lives in Cali- fornia, and who shocks her family by in- sisting upon marrying a man considered far beneath her in social sfation. Sev- eral of the incidents of the courtship re- lated in the tale, together with the de- scriptions of the odd Miss Piper and her equally 0odd admirer, are very amusing. “The Vagabonds of Trinidad” is a pa- thetic story of three outcasts, an Indian, a Chinese boy and a dog. Soclety seems to Nave no use for any of them, and so, clinging together by the instinct which makes them in misery love companion- ship, they try to find what peace and happiness they can out in the wilds away from the soclety which disapproves of them. They are joined by an American lad who has run away from home. They take him to their hearts and share with him the little they possess. When at last he goes back to his home in return for the kindness shown him he joins the number of their enemies and helps to rid civilization of them. Of all the stories except two the scene is laid in the West. One of these two, “A Vision of the Fountain,” is an amus ing tale of ‘the manner in which certain harrowing circumstances compelied an American, while traveling in England, to pose as a statue in a fountain belonging to a country estate, and the important re- sult this had upon the destiny of himse!f and another. The last sketch in the collection, “Bo- hemian Days in San Francisco,” is an ac- count of some of the principal features of early San Francisco life. Most of these pow exist but as a memory in the minds of pioneers and of those who followed closely in their footsteps out into the ‘West. To one acquainted only with ihe San Franclsco of to-day, Harte's descrip- tion of the pecullarities of éarly San Francisco life will be both amusing and interesting. The.other ptories are original and en- % Tarry Thou Til! I Come. ‘The Funk & Wagnalls Company of New York have brought out a new editlon of an Interesting work that first appeared in 1827. This is now published under the -title of “Tarry Thou Till I Come” and is a story of the Wandering Jew. It is by George Croly and was printed under different titles at different times as “Sala- thiel (The Wandering Jew). a Story of the Past, Present and Future”; thiel, the Immortal.” Critics have spcken of it most highly from its appearance to the present day. The latest pralse comes from Genera} Lew Wallace. In his intro- ductory letter to the edition he say: “In my judgment the six greatest English novels are “Ivanhoe”. ““The Lasf the Barons,” ““The Tale of Two Citles ane Eyre,” “Hypatia,” and this romance of Croly’s. If Shakespeare had mnever been born; if Milton, Byron and Tennyson were singers yet to be, and Bacon, Dar- win and Ruskin unknown; * * * sgill the six works named would of themselves suffice to constitute a British Literature.” The publishers have given the volume a very handsome dress and it is well illus- trated. Price $1 40. First Years in Handicraft. “First Years In Handlcraft” is a valua- ble little manual by Walter J. Kenyon of the State Normal School of S8an Francis- co. It will appeal to all teachers of kin- dergartens and will prove handy to moth- ers who wish to find work for busy llitle fingers at home. In it Mr. Kenyon ex- plains how children can make useful things out of comparatively cheap ma- terial of leather and paper and by usiug simple implements, as a ruler, pencil and scissors. His explanations are very sim- ple and as they are fully illustrated by designs,. there should be no difficulty in making them plain to the young people. It will entertain them, educate them, and give them the opportunity of-occupying their time on little things that will prove useful around the house. (Published hy The Baker & Taylor Company, New York. Price $1.) The Discovery of the Old Northwest. “The Discovery of the Old Northwest, by James Baldwin, gives in a simple and interesting fashion an account of the dis- covery and exploration of that section of our country bounded by the Great Lakes and the Ohio and Mississippl rivers. Com- mencing with the discovery of the St. Lawrence by Jacques Cartler in 1535, it comprises the recitals of the journeys of such famous men as Champlaig, Jollet, La Salle, Hennepth, Duluth and Mar- quette, as well as of many others wh - names are less generally familiar. 1‘; thrilling story of their bravery. theh“s . ventures and thelr hardships is told In narrative which, while historfcally accu- rate, is as fascinating as any work of fle- tion, and presents a vivid and attractive picture of their careers. The numerous fllustrations add to the interest of the book mnd small sketch maps show the routes of the various explorations. lPuh'- lished by the American Book Company, New York. Price 60 cents.) ‘With the Wild Flowers. A stranger in a city without friends or guide book would see but little to interest him compared to what the knowing could show. One who grows flowers, a garden, oT who has time to visit any part of the great park with -wkich nature covers the earth, is missing more than halt of the beanties of.the flower world if unacquaint- ed with botany. That is such a dry-sound- ing word, and sa xycn assoclated with long meaningless otifer words which have no more significance than a catalogue number that Maud Goirg (E. M. Havr_d- inge), the author of “With the Wild Flowers,” has purposely chosen a prettier name for the work. although it is in real- ity a very interesting and correct little elementary botany. Just enough to give an interest if one desires to study, or to satisty the curlosity if one does not care to go further. It is much devoted to the love affairs of the flowers and to the bees and butterflies who carry love's mes- sages from one to the other. There comes s human interest into the lives of the flowers when one learns how each of them s striving to win some flow- er-mate and send its message by a bee who is all too Lusy, or a butterfiy who is all too careless of the precious dispatch intrusted to its keeping. How the little flower is businesslike, too, and zays the bee for its service by giving it a little drop of honey. Or if it is a flower who thinks the bee is much too hurried and matter- of-fact to be trusted with Cupid’'s mes- sage, then it sinks its honey away in a deep pouch where only the long proboscis of the butterfly can reach. Then there are the troubles that the poor little flower has, when the ants come stealing hone; d pollen and positively refuse to carry any message to anybody in return. For them the little flower makes savage preparations for defense. Tt is no longer a guileless little blossom, but a perfect iittle Hades on a stem. It plans sharp stickers to gouge their eyes out, and noxious stickinesses to smother their insect lungs and tangle their spidery fegs. It puts out cups of water to drown them in and bayonets to stab them. Never believe that a flower is as innocent as it looks. Even the modest little violet and the chaste lily are quite ferocious when it comes to defending themselves against marauders. Of course to one who is a botanigt all of these things are not new and perhaps not so interesting, but to the person who has been tco busy to wade through a bog of Latin terms relating to ‘“endogenous and exogenous” and which give to a strawberry such a harsh consonantal name that you would think it would cer- tainly choke you if you tried to eat it, this book will give many a pleasant hour. The author iz evidently a naturalist who studies nature with no more alds than the eyes and ear: d fingers which nature gave us. The result is that all waich is told in the book may ke seen in the gar- den and before you have read many pages you will send, or better stili, go cut and get some flowers to see for yourself all of the busy doings which go on in’the little world of a foot square, where life and death and commerce are carried on by flowers, ants, and bees with honey for money and everything for love. Ancther good feature of the work is tnat it does not send the reader chasing half way round the world to illustrate the wonders of nature as shown in vesetable life. but on the contrary. presents them from descriptions of flowers that grow in every American garden and roadside. The story of “How the Garden Goes to Sleep™” is a pretty one and is just a#® well illus- trated by the description of a sleepy stringbean plant and a yawny, drooping. little clover patch. as it would be if the author had used South American flowers to illustrate the idea. The book is about small and simple things, but they are of the kind that we need to take our mind off the big complex ones that wear it out. (Published by the Baker & Taylor Company, New York. Price $1.) Etidorhpa. A wild flight of ghe imagination; eccen- tric as the anties of a syburban cow on a stampede; mixed with ponderous chunks of dubious philosophy and learned specu- lations on the possibility of the impos- sible, has been put in book form and called “Etidorhpa.” You must read the title backward to get the name. This beautiful little device' for making mys- teries is of a kind with the rest of the book. The author, John Uri Lloyd, with one scimiter-like swoop of his literary pen cuts all the inside out of the world and then in this vast hollow, about 7000 miles in diameter, he lets his imagination run wild. He proves with much elaboration that Kentucky is the gateway to this Plu- tonian underworld, basing his theory not upon the fact of its feuds and moonshin- ing, but for the reason that there is al- ready a large cave there. For people who are inclined to be dizzy or light-headed the book is not pleasant reading. It mixes too much fact and the- ory with sophistical experiments of the high-school laboratory. And then, worse than that. the hero falls 35,000.000 feet in one place, as near as the tired reader would care to figure it out. The first four- teen chapters make good skipping. (Pub- lished by Dodd, Mead & Co., New York, Price; $150.) The Silver Skull. ““The Silver Skull.” by S. R. Crockett, is reprinfed by the Frederick Stokes Com- pany. To those who like a stirring tale of war, love and the righting of wrong combined this romance will prove enter- taining. The scene of the story is laid In Italy in the early part of the nineteenth cen- tury, when troublous times were gradu- ally giving place to the peace which was later to settle over a united country. The heroine, Isabella, who is a member of a noble family, in early youth has all of her relatlves killed by the agents of a secret organization whose alm was to keep a part of Italy under its rule by using fire and sword against all who op- posed its mandates. Isabella is brought up by the Jardarellis, a family ‘which spent life and fortune in an effort to rescue Apalia from the grasp of the terrible organization whose em- blem was a silver skull. In the guise of a boy Isabella has many a stirring adventure on the expeditions which her foster-brothers make for the sake of exterminating thelr foes. The pretty romance interwoven among the scenes of battle and bloodshed will be left for the reader to peruse for him- self. . —_— Literary Notes. Like the author of “David Hai "~ A. R. Conder, whose novel, “The B::;nn! Silence,” Is to be published in June by D. Appleton & Co, never saw- his book. Mr. Conder, who was a young Oxford graduate, finished his novel in December, about a month before his death. His book is described as a romance of the present day, remarkable for its sustained Interest and, the striking quality of the principal situation. An interesting contribution to number of the Critic is an -ruc::eb:“x D. Albert Jr. on “Joseph Jefferson as a Painter.” The article is illustrated with a number of half-tone reproductions from Mr. Jefferson's canvases. Mr. Albert, while he appreclates the sympathetic art ¢ Mr. Jefterson, is quite consclous that is 1s not altogether original, though en- tirely charming. he July issue of the “new” Lippincott M:gaz(ne) will be a summer story num- ber. The complete novel and eight short storles varled to many tastes will appeal to travelers, those taking vacations and to the idler at home. The magazine will appear in a new cover adapted to its sum- mer contents. bound 1 ng and short, will abound in msem;:fi? ?ex{‘mry, justifying its charac- terization as a summer fiction number. Miss Mary E. Wilkins will tell a charac- teristic New England tale and Seumas MacManus a typical Irish one; the hero- i of “A Hope Deferred,” by Josephine Daskam, is a New England S,mniter' and the hero of M Seagwick's “A Lion Among Ladies,” a popular movellst in London. The other short stories Will be by Stewart Edward White and Elliott Flower, creator of Policeman Flynn. In- teresting installments will accom.p.;r;ly them of Mrs. Burnett's novelette, Me Making of a Marchione and Mr. Bacheller's novel “D'ri and McClure, Phillips & Co. will publish ext autumn an ilhjstrated reprint of Christopher in His Sporting Jacket.” by John Wilson (Christopher Xorth), author of “Nootes Ambrosianae.” This diverting account of the sports in vogue in the south of Scotland at the end of the elght- _eenth century first appeared in Black- wood's Magazine for September. 1828, and was afterward included in “Christopher North’s Recreations,” in 1342. “Christo- pher in His Sporting Jacket” is practl- cally unknown, but it has qualities of a high order in narrative description, hu- imor and feeling for nature that fit it to become a classic of our literature. E. L. Voynich, the author of “Jack Ray- mond,” which the J. B. Lippincott Com- pany recently published, and of which the first editlon was sold before publication, and of which the second edition was dis- posed of within three weeks of publica- tion, s a woman—and of Irish, not, as vou may suppose, of Russian birth. Her pame is Ethel Lilllan Voynich. Some thirty-three years ago ,she was born in Ireland, of English pafents, and all her education was gained in London schools. ‘According to her own confession her life has been singularly free from startling incidents, and there is nothing that dis- tresses and annoys her more than the two assertions, freely and frequently made, that her husband’s history is brimful of tragic incidents, Mr. Voynich is really a native of Lithuania, in Russian Poland, a quiet, cultivated gentleman. who, not ap- proving of the methods of the Russian Government, located himself in England. He was never a Siberian exile, and in England he met and married Miss Ethel Lillan Boole, daughter of the eminent logician of that name. Before her mar- riage Mrs. Voynich, like many an English girl, spent several vears on the Continent. but since her marriage she has made her home in London. This is the record of a auiet, happy life. “Jack Raymond” is the favorite among her intellectual creations. She wrote it out of a full heart, and the story would not be stayed, once she en- tered on its composition. Mark Twain once had an engagement to lecture in a small town, and was met at the railway station by the inister, as the leader of intellectual sty in the place. The minister welcomed the dis- tinguished visitor, and. as they walked up to the parsonage where Mark was to be hcused and fed during his stay, his host conversed on toples and finally sa “Mr. Clemens, it has always been our custom. in this little town, to open every entertainment given here with prayer. and T should liKe to do so to-night. if agree- able to you. Would vou have any objec- tion to my doing so?” “Why, my dear replied Mark warmly. “on the contrary it will give me great nleasure—I should be very glad to know that the lecture was going to be started right, anyhow." So with this understanding they went to the lecture-room that evening, and the minister left the lecturer sitting in the corner of the platform, took the center of the stage himself. and proceeded to offer a prayer about half an hour long, In the course of which he gave his views on all current affairs of interest, and concluded by saying: “And now, O Lord, we have with us to-right a man who is known throughout all the world as the great American hu- morist. Help us, O Lord—help us to un- derstand what he is about to say to us, and to be amused by it; and, If possible, grant that we may derive some real benefit from his lecture." Books Received. several sir,” DID SHE FAIL?—By Anna Fielding. The Abbey Press. New York. 50 cents. VIOLA LIVINGSTONE—By Mary E. Payne. The Abbey Press, New York. 50 cents. HISTORY OF THE NAVY—By Edgar . Maclay. D. Appleton & Co., New York. Vol. L $3 THE CRUISE OF THE PETREL—By T. Jenkins Hains. McClure, Phillips & C York. $1 3. FIVE YEARS OF MY LIFE, Alfred Dreyfus. York. $15 TH®E BO New 1894-1399—By McClure, Phillips & Co., New K OF GENESIS IN THE LIGHT OF MODERN KNOWLEDGE—By Rev. El- wood Worcester, D.D. McClure, Phillips & Co., New York. $3. EVERY ONE HIS OWN Wyatt. McClure, $150. THE CHILDREN OF THE NATIONS—By WAY—By Edith Phillips & Co.. New York. Poultney Bigelow. McClure, Phillips & Co., New York. $2. THE GOD OF HIS FATHERS- By Jack London. McClure, Phillips & Co., New York. $1.50. THE INHERITORS—By Joseph Conrad and Ford M. Hueffer. McClure, Phillips & Co., New York. $150, THE WORLD OF GRAFT—By Joslah Flynt. McClure, Phillips & Co., New York. $1 2. THE CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMER- ICA—By John Christopher Schwab. A.M., Ph. D. MecClure, Phillivs & Co., New York. $250. THE GRAPES OF WRATH—By Mary Har- riott Norris. Small, Maynard & Co., Bos- ton. _$1 50. A PRIMARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES—By John Bach McMaster. American Book Company, New York. 60 cents, STORIES OF ANCIENT PEOPLES—By Fm- ma J. Arnold. American Book Company, New York. 50 ‘cents. 3 THE DISCOVERY OF. THE OLD NORTH- WEST—By James, Baldwin. American Book Company, New York. 60 cent: THE STORY READER—By Alfred E. Logie and Claire H. Uecke, assisted Sarah A. Milner. American Book Company, New York. 30 cents. A TOPICAL- DISCUSSION OF, AMERICAN HISTORY—By W. C. Doub, A.B. The Whit- aker and Ray Company. San Francisco. A TOPICAL DISCUSSION OF GEOGRAPHY —By W. € Doub, A.B. The Whitaker and Ray Company, San Francisco. 25 cents. GRAMMAR BY THE INDUCTIVE METHOD —By W. C. Doub, A.B. The Whitaker and Ray Company, San Francisco, 25 cents. The Books fieviewed ON THIS PAGE Can Be Obtained at IRUBERTSUN’S, l 126 POST STREET, SAN FRANCISCO, Prices are always in the Reading Notices.