Part 11

It is always a question what Anthony Hope will do next. From a dashing romance of an imaginary kingdom to drawing-room repartee is a leap which this versatile writer performs with the greatest ease. In his “Tristram of Blent” he has made a new departure, demonstrating his ability to depict character by some exceedingly delicate and skillful delineation. The plot is unique, and is based upon the difference of time of the Russian and English calendars, by which a marriage, a birth, and the ownership of lands and name are in turn affected, producing complications which hurry the reader on in search of the satisfactory solution which awaits him. The Tristrams are characters of strong individualities, of eccentricities likewise. These, coloring all their acts, leave the reader in doubt as to the issue; yet it is a logical story through and through, events following events in carefully planned sequence. A work of undoubted originality based on modern conditions, “Tristram of Blent” proves that the author does not need an ideal kingdom to write a thrilling romance. (12mo, $1.50.)

IRISH PASTORALS

_By Shan F. Bullock_

“Irish Pastorals” is a collection of character sketches of the soil—of the Irish soil—by one who has lived long and closely among the laboring, farming peasantry of Ireland. It is not, however, a dreary recital of long days of toil with scanty food and no recreation, but it depicts within a life more strenuous than one can easily realize, abundant elements of keen native wit and irrepressible good nature. The book will give many American readers a new conception of Irish pastoral life, and a fuller appreciation of the conditions which go to form the strength and gentleness of the Irish character. (12mo, $1.50.)

THE WESTERNERS

_By Stewart Edward White_

When the Black Hills were discovered to be rich in valuable ores, there began that heterogeneous influx of human beings which always follows new-found wealth. In this land and in this period, Stewart Edward White has laid the setting of “The Westerners,” a story which is full of excitement, beauty, pathos and humor. A young girl, growing to womanhood in a rough mining camp, is one of the central figures of the plot. The other is a half-breed, a capricious yet cool, resourceful rascal, ever occupied in schemes of revenge. Around these two are grouped the interesting characters which gave color to that rude life, and, back of them all, rough nature in her pristine beauty. The plot is strong, logical, and well sustained; the characters are keenly drawn; the details cleverly written. Taken all in all, “The Westerners” is a thoroughly good story of the far West in its most picturesque decade. (12mo, $1.50.)

BY BREAD ALONE

_By I. K. Friedman_

Mr. Friedman has chosen a great theme for his new novel, one which affords a wealth of color and a wide field for bold delineation. It is a story of the steel-workers which introduces the reader to various and little-known aspects of those toiling lives. In the course of the work occurs a vivid description of a great strike. The author, however, shows no tinge of prejudice, but depicts a bitter labor struggle with admirable impartiality. Along with the portrayal of some of man’s worst passions is that of his best, his affection for woman, forming a love-story which softens the stern picture. The book will appeal to students of industrial tendencies, as well as to every lover of good fiction. (12mo, $1.50.)

_Here are two volumes of most thrilling tales, gleaned from the material which the age has brought us. Each collection occupies an original field and depicts some characteristic phase of our great commercial life._

WALL STREET STORIES

_By Edwin Lefèvre_

It would be difficult to find a better setting for a good story than this hotbed of speculation. On the Exchange, every day is a day of excitement, replete with dangerous risks, narrow escapes, victories, defeats. There are rascals, “Napoleonic” rascals, and the “lambs” who are shorn; there is the old fight between right and wrong, and sometimes the right wins, and sometimes—as the world goes—the wrong. In the maddening whirl of this life, which he knows so well, Edwin Lefèvre has laid the setting of his Wall Street stories. A number of them have already appeared in _McClure’s Magazine_, and their well-merited success is the cause of publication in book form of this absorbing collection. (12mo, $1.25.)

HELD FOR ORDERS

STORIES OF RAILROAD LIFE

_By Frank H. Spearman_

While railroad life affords fewer elements of passion and emotion than the life of Wall Street, it offers however a far greater field for the depiction of the heroic. Deeds of bravery are probably more common among these hardy, cool, resourceful men—the railroad employees—than among any other members of society. “Held For Orders” describes thrilling incidents in the management of a mountain division in the far West. The stories are all independent, but have characters in common, many of whom have been met with in _McClure’s Magazine_. Mr. Spearman combines the qualities of a practical railroad man with those of a fascinating storyteller, and his tales, both in subject and manner of telling, are something new in literature. (12mo, $1.50.)

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES

1. Silently corrected typographical errors. 2. Retained anachronistic and non-standard spellings as printed. 3. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_.