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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.