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Show I A TALE OP NEW FRANCE. Robert Cavcllor: Tho Romance of tho Slcur de La Sallo and His Discovery of the Mississippi River. By William Dana Orcutt, With six full-page Illustrations In color bv Charlotte Weber. Published by A. C. McClurg & Co., Chicago. A young man In the Houso of Novices at Paris revolts from tho life, defies the rules' of tho order of Jesuits, but docs not escape nevertheless, and Is mado a priest. But his spirit of adventure and longing for a stirring llfo Is not quenched, and ho goes oversea fo the New World, landing In Montreal. His stay there, until he can outlit for' Jils. Ilrsb trip, of exploration, his series of triajs and perils as he tolls' onward on-ward nnd llnds strange new scenes, and thcro opfns to his' gazo" a. vision of what all that 'lay open 'to seizure meant for France If only tho, drowsy and greedy monarch Lpuls XIV. will stretch fortli his han'd and selzo it-, are all artistically, and effectively told. And when he returns, re-turns, and goes to Purls, enthusiastic and filled" with zeal for Franco, how he is rebuffed, and made sick with the folly and shortsightedness of tho managers man-agers of tho lazy and trilling King' A lively account of tho frivolous court at Versailles Is drawn, with tho reigning court beauty, Madamo de Montespan In her glory; she was In lull power, but about to bo superseded by Madamo de Main-tenon, Main-tenon, who was the cleverest of the lot, but with tho best of will had no real ability abil-ity to help on tho causo of Fontenac, which was tho cause of France In the Now "World. Returning to the wilderness, Cav-oller Cav-oller resumes his quest, finds tho great river, and finds also his life's happiness, a very warm and romantic love-story running run-ning through the pages and giving them life and human Interest. It is a narratl'o fascinating as pen can mako It, tho I dramatic events of the explorer's life, as the publisher's note phrases it, being woven into a vivid and beautiful story, "In which the nobility of tho theme Is matchc1 by the dignity and admirable finish fin-ish of its literary treatment." Tho author closes Cavclier's narrative at tho period when his life was at Its brightest, and It was certainly at the fitting climax. It is a noble story, well told, but the character of tho renegado priest Is a dark one. Tho publishers have made it a beautiful book, the pictures being especially lino. It was published yesterday, April 9Ch, and wo aro sure the public will wclcomo It as a most desirable addition to tho novels of the year. |