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THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN AND NEWS. SATURDAY, MAY 11, 1907.
Four Interesting Books arthur v pSdei&,jr.
■THE WORLD’S WARRANT." By
Norah Davis. (Houghton, Mifflin &
Co.)
In "The World's Warrant,” Miss Da
vis has drawn a very entertaining pic
ture of Alabama, with characters made
up of Northern financiers (who have
come to the state to “boom” its re
sources) und a few, far too few, of the
natives. The location of the story Is In
northern Alabama, at a little town
called Morganton, which must bo lo
cated somewhere near Huntsville, the
author's home.
The plot of the story rests primarily
upon the occasional Indifference of men
iis to the necessity of visiting the coun
ty marriage license officer, to purchase
the world’s warrant. Tbo plot is based
upon Just such another case ns that
related of the notorious Duke do Gram-
innnt, who, while hurriedly leaving
Knglund to return to France, was over
taken at Dover by the brothers of Lady
Hamilton, who asked the duke If he
hadn't forgotten something. "Bo I
have,” said the duke. "I've forgotten
to marry your sister." The duke re
turned to London and married Miss
Hamilton, but unfortunately in "The
World’s Warrant" there were no watch
ful brothers—hence the story.
Mr. James Btanwell earlyile,
bright, hustling business man from the
Hast, together with associates, comes
to Alabama to develop the mineral re
sources of the state. Carlysle Is mar
ried and his wife has Miss Jane Caruth,
a very charming young woman, as a
guest for a prolonged visit, in
fact during the whole time of tho book.
Carlysle and his friend Peter Clark are
two of the leading capitalists engaged
In developing Morgantoi). Near tho
little town la a great undeveloped wa
ter power, owned by' an "un-recon-
HtructeU" Southerner. Nothing In the
way of largo offers In cash for this
water power has any effect on the old
Southerner, and the project of devel
opment is about to fall through, when
Peter Clark undertakes personally to
engineer the deal. Here enters Lady
Hamilton's prototype, for, of course,
the old Southerner has a beautiful, al
though Illiterate daughter. The lovely
girl, who can only "read printing, of
course falls In love with the ambassa
dor to her father and undertakes,
through deception, to accomplish Clark a
desires. In the way of securing from
her father a deed to the water power.
The author has dealt rather harshly,
even unjustly, with a "daughter of the
Old South" In her delineation of the
character lola Jourdan. tho winsome
but most Ignorant child of the old
... .a m...... Is la ihnt Trtln'g fnttlAr
Miss Caruth; Clark discovers ratherProfessor Van Dyke's descriptions of
Southerner. True It Is that lola's father
had been her maternal grandfather’s
overseer, before the Civil War, and
there had been some *o»slp regarding
tho high-born mother of lola marrying,
ruther hurriedly, her father's overseer.
Overseers were not of a very elevated
order, to be sure, still.their children
were taught to read and write, and It
strikes the reader as a more than over
drawn picture, this absolute Illiteracy
of IolaJourdun. Even fifteen years ago
—during the "boom” times—It Is fair
to assume that beautiful girls, of good
blood at least on one side of the family,
living near towns like Huntsville, Ala.,
could both read and write; did not
roam the country alone; kiss strange
men at first meetings, or pu l off their
shoes and stockings and call attention
to their pretty bare feet There may
have been an Isolated case such as Miss
Davis- exploits, still It U very hart to
credit lola Jourdan's lying to Clark
And her father which ends In breaking
up the purchase of the water power.
Clerk finds It convenient, under the
circumstances, to leave Alabama be
tween suns, taking lola with him. with
out the formality of a marriage license
Of course they grow tired of each oth
er, as seems to happen In most such
cases. lola returns to Morganton under
an aaaumed name, and <»f court© with
• Impedlmento" In the shape of a lovely
baby. lola appeals to Carlysle for help
not giving her real name; Clark la still
East, no doubt finding his absence from
Morganton more than convenient, and
Mrs. Carlysle and Miss Caruth becom
ing Interested In lola, decide that she
shall be disposed of through a mat
rimonial agency." The conspirators be-
Ing Impressed with the advertisement
of one "James Goodloe. Miss caruth
undertakes the correspondence by rep
resenting lolar-«ho can not, even yet.
write correctly. It turns out that Good,
loe Is tho assumed name of a large
mining operator named Gracham, who
has tried this advertisement dodge be
cause of disgust with the world In gen
eral and women In particular. Ooodloe
In Nevada becoming Interested In the
beautiful letters written for lola .by
Miss Caruth. comes under his jeal
name, presumably to Invest money In
Morganton. Outside of Hlolg having
loved well but not wisely, the principal
movement at this point In th* book
Is the old, old plot of two people hav
ing undertaken a correspondence for
olh-r people, through their letters faH
In love with each other, always upset
ting.their original plans. So In "The
World's Warrant." Old Jourdan dies
and leaves the water power to lola.
conditioned upon Clark « *J' arr 2 r *J 1 * # „•
and legitimatizing her child. lola falls
in love, of course, with Ooodloe, or
Gracham, aa_he really Is; Miss Caruth
loves him; Gracham. alias Goodloe, loves
late that he wants to marry lola; Car
lysle and his wlfo attempt to straighten
matters out, making them worse, of
course, and so the book goes. It Is all
Interesting, well written and Miss Da
vis' pictures (if Alabama rural and
town life, the cotton fields and the sur
rounding country is very good Indeed.
Miss Caruth while loving Goodloe, won't
marry him, but sends him back to lola,
who will not have lilm either because
he docs not love her, so while the book
does not say so, the reader hopeB that
the two lovers, Goodloe and Miss Ca
ruth. do eventually marry. After
all the discussion, pro and con, regard-'
Ing their "infinite pflssion," those two
people surely deserved something;
whatever It was. It Is difficult to say.
Thero nfo no doubt cases in real life
where two people love each other de
votedly, yet surrender their claim upon
happiness, thut certain duties and ob-
lic i'i'Ois may I,., performed by one or
live other, but present day readers come
In personal contact with too many such
cases to .be Impressed with the duty-
Iierformlng lovers of many books. When
two people fall In love, too frequently
duty becomes a secondary considera
tion.
"Tho World's Warrant" Is very In
teresting and It Is a pleasure to note
that it has been written by a Southern
woman. It Is to be luqied that Miss
Davis will soon give us as fair a picture
of her own Southern people, of tho
same class, as of thoso Northerners she
writes about so Interestingly. Miss Da
vis knows Southern highbred people;
having lived In ’Huntsville, she could
not help It, and it Is to be hoped that
she will tell us of representative
Southerners In her next book. "Tho
World's Warrant” Is more strictly re
viewed In this department owing to tho
fact of Its being a Southern product,
and It Is only the small (or large, as the
case may be) points which are men-
tiurM il that van wen be sabl to la- un
satisfactory In this really entertaining
book. The'style of composition used
In *Tho World's Warrant" Is at times
slightly heavy; that Is to say, tho au
thor seems to use a greater number of
worts than are necessary to express
what she evidently wants to say. but
they can all be understood and found
Interesting,
“THE DESERT." By John C. Van
Dyke. (Charles Scribner's Sons.)
There Is one book which everyone
who loves the "open life” should surely
read, and that Is "Tho Desert,” by Pro
fessor John C. Van Dyke. The book Is
not primarily an advocate of life in the
open, but It shows In a wonderful,
charming way tho beauties of the great
American deserts. It Is no misnomer
to speak of the "beauties” of the desert.
We have all gotten our Ideas of deserts
from studying os children old geogra
phies. with text pictures, showing
clouds of sand, pursuing Arabs on fleet-
footed camels. There are sands on the
American desert, but not such as are
shown In the text-books for children.
In his preface-dedication. Professor
Van Dyke says: “And so'it Is that my
book Is only nn excuse for talking
about tho beautiful things In this desert
world, which stretches down the Pa
cific coast and across Arizona and
Sonora. The desert lias gone a-beg-
glng for a word of pralso these many
rears. It never had a sacred poet. It
ias In me only a lover. • • • Given
the facts (os Professor Van Dyke so
charmingly states them), perhaps the
poet with his fancies will come here
after."
Professor Van Dyke takes the desert,
especially the Colorado desert, and pic
tures It delightfully.
His book Is really an epic and It Is
difficult to understand without a read
ing, what a charming book Professor
Van Dyke makes of descriptions of the
desert land. But he does It and after
the reader has finished his book, lie
hardly realises that he has been read
ing solely about sand, winds, lock of
moisture and other well-known facts.
Incidental to a discussion of the desert
country.
Professor Van Dyke wrote thla book
in 1101, and In duo time It reached the
scene of his Inspiration, where It was.
In one case especially, eagerly devoured
by Interested readers. It Is reissued
this year by Charles Scribner’s Sons.
Some young engineers, In Arizona, In
the year 1902, for their health's soke,
were located on thd Colorado desert,
making many trips thereabouts, and
they discussed many times that part of
this interesting hook, dealing with "The
Bottom of the Bowl." Tho bottom of
the bowl Is Just that part of the desert,
say near Initio and Salton, California,
which Is some 200 feet below the level
of the sea. Just about that time a
large corporation was digging a great
series of canals leading through or Into
the bowl, for the purpose of Irrigating
lower Californio. Readers of newspa
pers will remember wbM bimuM to
the Imperial canal, only a short time
•go; how the Colorado river overflowed
into the bowl, and is doing it yet, car
rying nut Just what was so forcibly de
scribed In Professor Van Dyko's book,
and wonderfully showing what bad
been the earlier state of tbit kW(
:a level country. These young
engineers have recalled many times
since the overflow of the Colorado river.
Its possibilities.
And about tho desert air! Books and
magazines have been filled, or It might
bo truthfully stated, "stuffed" with
pseudo descriptions of that wonderful
desert air, but there Is no other such
genuine description published os that
in-Professor Van Dyke's book.
To best describe "Tho Desert" would
ho simply to say that Professor Van
Dyke takes a subject which to the
ordinary reader would be, if Improperly
treated, exceedingly dull and uninter
esting, and he makes Jhe reader a real
lover, nlong with the author. o( his
fascinating subject. It is altogether
charming. It Is an epic. It Is a book
that should supersede at least In our
high schools (maybe It does) the many
false pictures of that great country but
West Here's hoping It will.
"THE LONG ROAD,” by John Ox-
enham. (The Macmillan Company.)
Judging by tho majority'of books based
upon life In Russia, Inhabitants of
every other country upon the globe
should give dally thanks for their ab
sence from the land of the czar. There
must be some happiness In Russia, or
people surely wouldn't stay there. Of
course, there are many people In the
cazar's kingdom who can not leave,
but there must be a greater number
who could do so. If they so - desired.
Most of the books written about Rus
sia moko it difficult to understand
why any one remains there. All such
Volumes are filled with stories of fear
ful cruelty—prisons, the knout, and
the worst of all, the banishment to
Siberia. The consensus of opinion as
expressed by these authors seems al
most as It they were, issued by one
bureau, or “Junta.”
The story of "The Long Road” seems
algiost beyond the powers of ordinary
credulity, If It were not sustained by
a footnote at the beginning of the
book, reading: "The extraordinary de
cree on which this story Is founded
Is not an effort of the Imagination, but
simple historical fact.” The book opens
with a large convoy of banished pris
oners starling on their march to Si
beria. In this party Is Ivan Illne,
his wife and his son. Stephen, the lat
ter a young fellow of nine years of
age. Old Ivan had been banished to
Siberia for taking snuff! On tho routo
the convoy of prisoners pass a small
village. In which Stephen sees a little
girl, who. depriving herself of her only
loaf of bread, gives it to him. Ste
phen never forgets this kindness.
Old Ivan and his family finally reach
Irkutsk, where they are allowed to
locate. Ivan becomes prosperous at
tils trade, Stephen grows to be a fine
young man, his mother Is anxious that
he should select a wife, but Stephen
has never forgotten little Katrenka, the
pretty young girl who years before had
given to him her only loaf of bread.
Ivan Illno is ordered by the governor
of Irkutsk to become a councillor,
member of his cablnot, only os a flgiii
head. He Incurs tho ill will of the
governor, "Poschkln, the Terrible,” and
is sent on a dangerous Journey, from
which he never returns. Just before
this, however. Stephen, on a Journey
for Pasehkln, finds ms long-loved-ln-
fancy Ketrenka, now grown to be a
lovely young woman. Rcal.love at first
sight takes place, they are married
and return to Irkutsk. Stephen having
followed out successfully his govern
or’s commands. Stephen Is then sent
by Poschkln on the some Journey upon
which his father had disappeared.
Stephen anticipates tho cruelty of
Poschkln, and arranges that ehould
anything happen to him Katrenka shall
dispose of everything and Join him.
Upon arrival at his destination Ste
phen finds the governor's courier by
forced riding ahead of him. with In
structions to Stephen, given through
the police department, that he shall
become a kind of "Wandering Jew.'
He shall be continually on the go,
stopping In no place longer than ten
days, during his whole life. This Is
the decree upon which tho story of
“The Long Road” Is based. The story
tells of Stephen's wanderings, how he
rescued a poor Jewish merchant, who
In turn fits him out as an Itinerant
storekeeper; of Katrenka's flight from
Irkutsk, and their life together on the
road. Stephen builds a house upon
wheels In which he and Katrenka (and
by this time two children) travel and
live. Encounters with the weather
and wild animals happen duly and are
Interestingly described In the book. As
well as matters could go under the
circumstances, all Is well with Ste
phen and his family until his wife
dies: then his little baby boy and later
his eldest child, the pretty little Katlo.
When all this happens there comes to
Stephen Just one thought—that he may
live long enough to kill Paschkl|; of
how ho does have this opportunity;
how tho memory or fancied Bight of
a little child stays his murderous
hand; how he spares Pasehkln, and
drifts. mentally unbalanced, way off
Into the northern extremity of Sibe
ria and lives like an animal—all Is
thrilllngly told in the book. Stephen
returns In time to his friend, tho old
Jewish merchant, and again takes up
Ills Journey on the "long road,” always
going, never stopping longer than ten
days In any one locality.
There are some beautiful pictures of
love for wife, for children and for hu
man kind In “The Long Road,” and
taken all together It Is the most ambi
tious book that this reviewer has seen
from Mr. Oxenham’s facile pen. The
book Is very Interesting and deserves
a good sale.
CREEDLESS—SAT SUP
(Copyright, 1907, by Amerlcon-Jour-
nal-Examlner.)
Though chaos and confusion
Upon the earth I sec,
Tet still they seem Illusion
Unto the soul of me.
Though race with race Is striving.
And conflicts do not cease,
I feel that Right Is thriving—
I hear the sound ot Peace.
I know the wrongs existing •
And growing hour by hour.
And yet my faith persisting
Sees Justice high In Power.
I hear the voice of Reason
Enumerating Ills; —
But doubt of good Is Treason
And trust my bosom fills.
Though nation wars with nation,
Ami men In darkness grope,
A curious exaltation
Gives pinions to my hope.
Though sorrows and disasters
Descend upon our sphere,
My faith In wisdom masters
All sentiment of fear.
Along this world benighted,
Where clouds and-shadows roll,
Ono narrow path Is lighted
For each,Immortal soul; '
The path of Love's endeavor.
To show the God within.
And who walks there will never
Be slave to fear or sin.
Mine Is tho mind ot woman—
No logic in Its store—
But ah, my heart Is human,
And love Is at Its core.
The earth Is God’s expression, "*
And love is all It needs.
And this Is faith's confession
Of what It lacks In creeds.
"THE SOWING OF ALDERSON
CREE.” By Margaret Prescott Monta
gue. (The Baker & Taylor Co.) J
Just such an Innovation as all dis
criminating readers have been yearn
ing for, namely, a book on mountaineer
life, free of dialect and acute pecu
liarities, such as "never were on land
or sea," Is a charming book called "The
Sowing of Alderson Oreo.” Tho read
ing public has been deluged with sto
ries based on life In the mountains
wherein the principal characters did
little else than kill each other and chew
tobacco and talk dialect. "The Sowing
of Alderson Cree," by Margaret Pres
cott Montague. Is about the best story
of mountain life that, has been Issued In
a long time. The characters are per
fectly natural, -they do not kill people
every day, thoy even attend to. business,
plant their forms, cut tlmt —utul raise'
children. The deecrlptlve powers of
the author of this charming book aro
unusually good. She tells us nt the be
ginning of the book about a deer hunt,
which Is very realistic, and In another
place wherein she describes the fulling
of the rain,-and Its effect on vegetation,
the reader can almost see, In fact he
does see>ln the mind’s eye, her de
sired effect. It Is a great test, to make
simple every day happenings Interest
ing und the author of this charming
bonk accomplishes this excellently.
The story Is based on not one of the
old-time, regular made-to-order feud-
plots, that one reads about in most such
novels. In "The Sowing of Alderson
Cree" the hero, Alderson Cree, Is killed
by Ills enemy, while the former Is on
a deer hunt. Cree Is shot In tho back
from ambush, at one of the deer hunts,
and before dying he compels'hie young
son, David Cree. a boy 12 years old, tc
promise that he shall avenge hfs death,
naming the supposed enemy who Is tho
real murderer. "Kip Ryerson," the mur
derer, is acquitted at his trial, owing to
lack ot evidence to convict. Young
David grows up, his mind filled with'
this promise to avenge fils father’s
death. Three or four years after this
time David goes across the mountains
to find Ryerson. and kill him, but Is
told that Ryerson had gone West,
where he hnd been murdered. This
Information Is a great relief to Da
vid.
Everything goes well until David
arrives at the age of 21, when he Is
deeply In love, with one of tho most
charming heroines the reader Is liable
to run across for many a day. Mary
Reddins Is Just about ns lovely a girl
as one coaid possibly And anywhere.
These two love each other and plight
their troth. At church on the following
Sunday, that Is to say, the Sunday after
the time when tho world really began
to bo worth anything for Mary and Da
vid, Ryerson turns up unexpectedly;
there Is a flash of recognition, David
dashes through the congregation, at
tempts to kill with his own hands Ills
father’s murderer, but Is stopped by
surrounding friends. Mary takes Da
vid home and for hours and hours
pleads with him that "love Is bigger
than hate," but David's mother coun
teracts all of Mary's pleadings and Da-
Contlnued on Page Eight.