EGLEE, A GIRL OF THE

PEOPLE

From the "Letters of Elizabeth to her Mother" to "Eglee, a Girl of the People" is a long step. Mr. W. R. H. Trowbridge has successfully taken it, and it was a step worth taking, even at the moment when the historical novel is expected to fully justify its continued appearance. It is rather strange that under the searchlight for romantic

EGLEE, A GIRL OF THE PEOPLE. By. W. R. H. Trowbridge. A. Wessels Co. 12mo, $1.00 net.

heroes and heroines it has not hitherto fallen on the girl who at the height of the French Revolution shouted "Vive la Reine" throughout the streets of Paris, since interest in that period will almost carry anything. Pardonably, the story is freighted with historical impedimenta, but it is well presented, and one may care to refresh the mind with such thrilling details. The bare skeleton of Eglee's existence, as revealed by de Beugniot, Mr. Trowbridge has skilfully. clothed. He has interwoven this with pretty and entirely plausible passages

between Eglee and the young aristocrat, Duc d'Amboise. He has done this, moreover, without sacrificing in any way the consistency of their entirely different characters of aristocrat and girl of the Faubourg Antoine. The scenes in the conciergerie are finely conceived and vividly rendered. The dramatic contrasts suggest valuable possibilities for the stage, except that one begs from events so harrowing in an age which presents troubles of its own.

THE LIGHTNING
CONDUCTOR

It was inevitable that the automobile should soon supersede the bicycle in fiction. It is interesting to observe with what ingenuity each new machine presents fresh and valuable complications with which it is peculiarly and inseparably connected, to the harassed, wearyworn art of the novelist. With every new method of getting over the ground the writer rises Antæus-like with another hope, and plucks a fresh goosequill. It is the good fortune of the automobile to make a first appearance in "The Lightning Conductor."

As a

story of great highways it ranks with the best of its kind, and will doubtless serve as guide-book to many who will envy its exhilarating spirits and, it is to be hoped, emulate the good temper it inculcates under similar untoward circumstances. The story is told in a series of letters. On the one hand these are addressed by Miss Molly Randolph to "Dear Shiny-headed Angel," "Darling Dad," "You Blessed Old Thing," and are received by a competent person on Wall Street, who sends prompt and ample checks to his equally competent daughter. The others are mailed by Mr. Jack Winston, otherwise Chauffeur

THE LIGHTNING CONDuctor. By C. N. and A. M. Williamson. Henry Holt & Co., 12mo, $1.50.

Brown, to Montie, Lord Lane, at Davos-Platz. The young woman, having bought a collection of iron-mongery as an automobile, speedily comes to grief not far from Paris, and her chauffeur runs off with the money for repairs. Here she is rescued by a young Englishman driving his Napier, who engages with her as Chauffeur Brown. Thus Molly Randolph and her chaperon, Aunt Mary, are enabled to visit the châteaux in the valley of the Loire; thence to Biarritz, crossing the Pyrenees, they at length reach the Riviera, extend their trip to Italy, finally fetching up in Sicily, where the situation finds itself handsomely.

It will be seen that this is something of a journey, and that it involves a large amount of interesting historical information. It is truthful to say that this is incorporated not only without violence, but is made an integral part of the story. The progress of the love affair between Molly and Chauffeur Brown to its inevitable happy consequence is told with gayety and spirit, and makes sure of the sympathy of every reader in the ultimate and mutual happiness of two such wholesome and charming people. The situation is not a new one, but it is fair to say that Mr. and Mrs. Williamson, who are joint authors, have made it as good as new in "The Lightning Conductor." Incidentally, the ways of the automobile, its temper, moods, its whims, its faithful response and its moments of self-assertion accompany the story as one of the principal sentient characters.

Lady" as a story is as fantastic as that of "Ulysses"; the author indeed, in essentials, keeps reasonably close to the classic. But for the poetic mystery of the ancient tale he fortifies himself with humor, simulates realism, and adds a touch of science. The sea lady gets her footing, as one may say, in the blazing sunshine of a sandy beach at a commonplace watering-place amid a group of everyday people. As an immortal she knows their weaknesses and plays upon them to secure her own ends. The fun, of course, is uppermost, beginning with the violin-case invented by the discreet maid for her tail before she can be presented to society by the kind-hearted Mrs. Bunting. The effort to keep the secret, the warding off of the newspaper men, the conversations on affairs above and below the surface of the earth, are hilariously funny. But Mr. Wells has done more. The disciplinary effect upon the character of life, death, and the future as against the unmoral attitude of the immortal amid this travesty of truth and falsehood however lightly, is still reflected. The tragedy at the close, after the humorous exaggeration of the story, is unexpected and somewhat forced. This is not the first time Mr. Wells has shown how plausibly he can manage glaring improbabilities. But

none has been more consistently amusing.

THE CONQUEST

Otherwise "The True Story of Lewis and Clark" is the tale of the winning. of the Middle West. Although thrown into the form of a novel the book is scarcely a story. Even the conversations seem to have been taken from letters and state archives. This makes them very brief, for the writer seems scarcely to draw on her imagination to fill them out. The book is indeed so packed that one goes from Richmond to Louisville, from Chillicothe to St. Louis, from Vincennes to Cincinnati, with such haste that the uninformed reader can hardly keep pace. At the same time every reader must feel in the possession of truthful and interesting data, which, however unwieldy for unwieldy for the moment, makes "The Conquest" a book for the library shelves where it may furnish facts of the period when wanted. It was an empire that these men gave to the country, and their story can never be wanting in value. The portraits of Clark, Lewis, Boone, and Kenton one accepts without question.

THE CONQUEST. By Eva Emery Dye. A. C. McClurg & Co., 12mo, $1.50.

WIT

ITH this number Professor John Finley, of Princeton University, begins a series of talks about books under the title of "Letters and Life."

The beautiful California home of Katharine Hooker, here pictured, suggests the possibility that the inspiration of her "Wayfarers in Italy" began in "our Italy," where she, though of old New England stock, has lived most of her life and where the other Wayfarer, her daughter, Marian Hooker, was born. At least one can infer from such a home in such a land the preparation of mind. and spirit for the sympathetic appreciation of "the sources of literature in life" which Mr. W. D. Howells notes in her book. The book is the result of nearly two years' leisurely journeyings through the Italy which is not of the beaten tourist's track-pilgrimages chiefly to out-of-the-way villages, castles, and pictures that so often figure in the "nexttime" journeys of loving but less leisurely travellers.

During her long residence in San Francisco and later in Los Angeles, Mrs. Hooker has ever been the centre of a group of people whose very isolation tended to develop appreciation and taste. Italy had laid its charm upon her during an early visit, and for a number of years there went on, among the scenes here pictured, the quiet preparation for the more serious study and longer sojourn. To this end her library became crowded with books and photographs, while her garden, with its wealth of ever-blooming flowers and its climate and sky of Italian quality, constituted a constant reminder of the gardens of the far-away land of her desire.

Mrs. Hooker's love of books extends to their externals, for she has learned the art of bookbinding; her study is her workshop also, and in the great room on the top of the house, with her friend and co-worker, the late Miss Evelyn Nordhoff, she spent many hours designing and binding treasured books.

Here is an episode of some interest.