Show llASIlliCL ATfTHOXY HOPE The Grand Inquisitor of the Fuir Sex Trciultlci Before a Debutante and Only Ivnovrs Women By Iten i I I uiation I The other day a charming Boston woman wo-man who passed last summer in England i Eng-land told a very amusing story of Anthony Hopes father It appears that at an excessively smart luncheon given by a high disnatary of the church the lady t found faerself seated next a small and evidently very shy clergyman So timid h tim-id flid her neighbor prove that during ctihe I first half of the meal he kept his face rigidly averted never once opening his lips After making several inef fectual attempts to engage the tittle I gentleman In conversation the friendly I foreigner was surprised to have him I turn and in an agitated voice inquire I whether Americans ever read novels I I Novels she exclaimed Why yes I indeed more than most people I I Do they care for British authors he asked starting nervously with a little lit-tle jerk and gasp after each word Alas I fear we are very unpatriotic I in that respect the lady replied We I are grossly addicted to English fiction I I How aiboufc Anthony Hope Do you care for Mm whispered the little min I ister in a tremor of feeling I How unfortunate that I have never even Sieard his name But Im glad you J ri fliia h > have told me about him for on my way back through town Ill oider a lot of his he books sent home By the way who is Do you know this new writer I The speaker glanced up to see her I neighbors face fairly beam with emo tion as he answered tremulously I I should think I dM madame An thony Hope Hawkins is my only son Then waxing eoquent and confidential tthe Rev Mr Hawkins continued You cant think what a queer sensation it gives one to have a plain son turn out to be a live genius You see I had a Vhole house full of nice daughters that were just like other peoples children and then suddenly here came Anthony and before his mother and I knew what he was about the boy was famous anU had the whole world talking about him But its splendid splendld So unex peeLed and so very nice And during the rest of the meal the small gentle man rubbed hIs hands and smiled in guileless ecstacy Koyc Startling Revelations But this same literary gentleman the pride of his parents is causing no little disturbance In certain directions Not long since a party of clever wo men who were diScussing Anthony Hopes stories agreed that it was scarce ly proper for a man to know as much about their sex as the author of The Dolly Dialogues evidently does His easy familiarity with the innermost recesses of the feminine heart and mind is amazing Women have read his books with greedy interest they realize what an unblushing exposure he has made of them and are as yet undecided whether to adore or despise him Unquestionably there is an element of danger in such candid revelations of emotional subtleties that have been regarded re-garded heretofore as inviolate myster ies Women ask each other anxiously whether the fine flavor flL their fascina tions may not vanish if Mr Hope persists per-sists in taking mankind behind rhe scenes and colfd < boodedly explaining how every wire and spring works to produce sentimental effects He turns the tender female heart inside out dissects dis-sects it scientifically and suggests at least that Us component parts are gas vanity and deceit The situaiton is alarming and embarrassing for the gentle gen-tle woman Timid Ir Hope In view of his cynical strictures It is amusing to know that this grand in I L jL J AXTHOXY HOPE quisitor df the sex is the very shyest of men When Mr Hope wrote The Dolly Dialogues Di-alogues he had never met a grand dame and his knowledge of the world of women was confined to his mothers quiet rectory drawing room and the companionship of several demure elder ly sisters Those gay scintillating but terflies like delicious Lady Dolly were creatures of a vivid fancy unassisted by either experience or observation Mr Hope studied law was admitted to the bar established himself in pro fessional chambers and then forgot all I about his chosen calling For ten long years he sat in his shabby little office spinning airy romances of airy intrigue that breathe the very boquet of aristo cratic frivolity Never having come in contact with a mondaine he divined her by instinct gauged her capacities and knew pre jcisely what she would say and do under any given circumstances It seems scarcely credible that imagination alone supplied each detail with this infalli ble accuracy The delineations of the i exquisite old beau of Lady Doly and Mrs Hillary are all brilliant literary etchings of rare artistic fidelity I Anthony Hope wrote for ten long dis couraging years before the slightest I recognition of his work came to cheer him He workdd with passionate I enthusiasm all week and as a great lark Sunday afternoon had tea with his quiet English sisters consuming I toasted muffins and the mildest type 10f rectory gossip Thus toe lived and I toled and not until The Prisoner of Zeuda made Its author famous did he ever attend the most innocuous form of literary gatherings At Short Range When the dialogues had gone into many editions and was the talk of the town an admirer acquainted with air Hopes anomalous inexperience ar ranged that he should meet in a very vivacious eleganteas nearly like Lady Dolly as London society could afford It was very funny to see the diffident I Mr Hope his face wreathed in bashful smiles drinking in the ladys gay chatter and evidently in an ecstasy of measure It was havinghis characters vivified with life before his eyes The novelist is a tal slender man whose shoulders are slightly stooped his head decidedly told and manner reserved yet delightful by reason of the profound deference he pays to the opinions and remarks of other people i MILDRED EVELYN |