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Show CONDENSED I CLASSICS I f ! THE MYSTERIES f OF PARIS I I By EUGENE SUE S $ Condensation by Miss Sara Ware Bassett feii t-kV'-l-X-l-Vi.M.t.'-VVV-VV'. TO INTERPRET justly the works of Eugene Sue, one must not forget to take Into consideration considera-tion the epoch at which tie; won their place In world literature. When Sue was bom the novel was till a comparatively new product. There had. It Is true, been books before be-fore Its advent, for the Invention of firintlng had put reading matter within with-in the reach of the people; bnt until fiction made Its appearance most of :he material published had been of a religious trend, consisting of lives of the saints, and treatises on theology and science. Even then such volumes were costly, to say nothing of their being be-ing of far too ponderous a nature to answer the eraylngs of a public scantily scant-ily educated and desirous for entertainment enter-tainment at a time when amusements were few. Therefore, when out of this arid literary lit-erary waste the novel sprung into being, be-ing, we can easily picture the eager-boss eager-boss with which the hungering masses fell upon it. Here, at last, was something some-thing human and within the scope cf the every-day man's understanding; here, in fascinating form, were presented pre-sented not only with characters from the life with .which he was familiar, but also adventures in those mystic realms of romance that he had imagined. imag-ined. It was like water to the thirsty I Hence, If when reading the very early novels, or even those of the later decades to which Sue belonged, we are conscious of stilted dialogue, and melodramatic mel-odramatic and improbable situations, let us remember that the writers of this era were to no small extent pioneers pi-oneers In a sparsely trodden wilderness wilder-ness of art; and that when "the world was so new and all" In literary development de-velopment It Is a marvel that their handiwork has endured for so many years. Sue's "Mysteries of Paris," penned In 1842, seems touched with the fires of everlasting youth. Indeed, it must possess dhe charm of universal appeal or it would never have held Its place for almost a century. When we consider how few of our present-day novels survive a second season, we are forced to doff our caps tb this artist of the past, who, like Stevenson, so well merits the sobriquet of "Tusitaia, a Teller of Tales," and the secret of whose spell lies In the eternal child In us answering, to the sorceries of a muster story-teller. The book in question is a labyrinth of exciting and dramatic happenings, which, cleverly woven together, embody em-body the author's unique philosophy that the quest for good may be mada yuite as seductive a crusade as th quest for evil; the only difference lying ly-ing In the goal toward which one turns his steps. Certainly the story bears out this theory, for we are swept along by the magician's cunning page after page, chapter after chapter, until un-til his creative- resources seem limitless. limit-less. Never for an Instant does our interest lag. When the book Is finished fin-ished we feel that had Sue so ordained or-dained he could have evolved Just as many more plots with an equal degree de-gree of ease. He opens his narrative with a scene In the slums of Paris, where Fleur-de-Marle, a beautiful girl of the streets, Is being viciously attacked by the Slasher, a brute of the underworld. A. trivial quarrel between the two has arisen and the mnn Is about to strike this helpless creature when suddenly a stranger intervenes, and by superior strength and wit lays low the assailant. assail-ant. The newcomer is a M. Rudolph, who styles himsUf a painter of fans. Although poorly garbed and speaking the jargon of the pavements, we speedily speed-ily realize that he is something other ban he pretends ; and in this supposition suppo-sition we are soon Justified, for presently pres-ently we learn thai in truth M. Rudolph Ru-dolph is no other personage than his royal highness, the. grand duke of Ger-olsteln Ger-olsteln in disguise. The Slasher, however, how-ever, does not know this, and neither does his pretty companion,' and we soon find the three cronies seated amiably ami-ably at a cafe table relating for one another's amusement the stories of their past lives. Rudolph has little to say. He Is an artisan, he declares. Ibe Slasher frankly admits himself t be an escaped es-caped convict who has served in the galleys for murder; but with the inconsistency in-consistency of human nature he announces an-nounces that while he 1ms no scruples against murder, he vill not steal. Fleur-de-Marle, or (VM.A!ouse, as her comrades terra her, is a sixteen-year-old waif who has never known any parent save Screech Owl, a cruel woman wom-an from whom she fled when a child ; nor has she had nny home save prison walls and the haunts of vice. Nevertheless, Never-theless, despite her vile surroundings, surround-ings, she has kept her soul untainted and is essentially pure of heart, being the victim of environment and circumstances circum-stances rather than its votary. Observing this, Rudolph, whose aim Is ever to give another chance to those in whom good Is apparent, transplants her to a home In the country, where. oider the care of Mrs. George, his old ( . o..c -...j O.o . I oiue atmosphere. At the .-..iim- . he hinds the Slasher to him tor life I, "iVriiu' him his nand with the r mark that the convict has uoQor and t heart. Here o r story begins. RudolpL. we soon learn, has two aims in venturing Incognito into the filth of Paris. The first Is to discover, dis-cover, if he can, the whereabouts of Mrs. George's son, Germain, who has been taken from her In his youth by a vicious husband. The second Is to trace, if possible, his lost daughter who is supposed to have d'ed in Infancy. In-fancy. It Is around these two themes that the romance moves. In pursuing them M. Rudolph is beset by every Imaginable Im-aginable adventure. He is locked up in a subterranean cellar, where the waters of the Seine slowly creep up to his neck, and from which predicament predica-ment the faithful Slasher rescues him. Innumerable traps are laid for his feet; but from each successive snare he miraculously escapes. And throughout through-out this series of entanglements he never abandons his premise that no matter how depraved the Individual, there Is potential good In all humanity, human-ity, which, If nurtured, will blossom Into virtue. In consequence he becomes be-comes a sort of "Inferior Providence" to those whom he meets. He saves the blnmeless debtor from prison, and places an honest livelihood within his reach. He does a thousand kindnesses. kind-nesses. On the other hand he does not hesitate to bring the unworthy to justice. Relentlessly he causes the eyes of a wretch who has been pitiless piti-less to the weak to be put out. that he mny know what it means to De helpless and the prey of the strong. The story Is a network of crimes and their eventual punishment, and everywhere triumphant we find the creed that in the breas of humankind burns a spark of the Irvine. The portion of the tale dealing with the kidnaping of Fleur-de-Marie from her home with Mrs. George by Screech Owl, the blinded schoolmaster, anf the imp Hoppy is a novel In itself.. How these wretches wait for the innocent in-nocent girl ; convey her to Paris by coach; and thrust her into the arms of the police, who in turn deposit her In prison is exciting reading. From prison she is released by a written order, or-der, only to fall a victim to a band of hired ruffians who try to drown her In the Seine. As she is floating down the river, one of her old comrades from Saint Lazare leaps In and saves her life. Next we see her in the great Paris hospital, and it is at this juncture junc-ture that Grand Duke Rudolph of Ger-olsteln Ger-olsteln obtains trace of her; discovers that she is his own daughter; and bears her in triumph to his magnificent magnifi-cent palace to be transformed from a fugitive of the streets to her Royal Highness Princess Amelia. Here, for a' brief period, we behold our little Fleur-de-Marie the idol of the court, nnd sought in marriage by a prince of the realm. But the stigma of the past Is ever fresh in the girl's mind. She cannot shake it off. Though she adores her lover, she refuses to wed him, saying that she "loves him too much to give him a hand that has been touched by the ruffians of the city." Poor, brave Fleur-de-Marie! She at last seeks peace in a convent; and when she dies there, we have no regrets that her blameless but troubled life Is ended. end-ed. In the meantime what of Germain? We search for him through an equally equal-ly ingenious train of happenings. With ell M. Rudolph's wealth and astuteness astute-ness it Is no easy task to find this missing boy who is lost In the great city of Paris. But he is found. Like Goualeuse, the young hero has kept his soul unsullied by evil. Urged to rob his employer, he has not only refused, re-fused, but has given Information against thoBe who plotted the crime, that they might be brought to Justice. As a result of this good deed, however, how-ever, he has been hounded from one end of Paris to the other. At last he falls a victim to a monster of crime, Jacques Ferrand, a corrupt notary, who casts him into prison on a fictitious ficti-tious charge.' He Is no favorite, for by scorning to mingle with the vicious creatures about him he incurs their wrath and suspicion, until at length they dub him a spy and resolve to murder him. From this fate he Is saved by Slasher, who appears in the prison just in time to fell his assailants assail-ants and pilot him to liberty. Eventually Even-tually he is restored to his mother's arms and to his pretty sweetheart, RIgoIette, whom he now marries. The skill with which Sue constructs his story, Introducing character after character, and bringing these varied elements into a unified whole, is a marvel of artistry. It Is also Interesting Inter-esting to note throughout the novel the author's knowledge of medicine his handling of drugs, his portrayal of hospital practices, and other technical touches relative to his profession. Wherever such data can be turned to use he does not hesitate to employ It, fearlessly setting forth In black and white specific evils of the day that should be righted. Nor does he shrink from proclaiming to France, as did Dickens to England, the defects of the legal and penal systems of his country, A voice so boldly upraised at a time when Injustices were many must have won a hearing, and we honor Eugene . e not alone as a pioneer in the nov-i nov-i Hting field, not alone as a prince l story-tellers, but as a reformer of the social and political evils of his generation. Copyright, 1919, by the Post Publishing Co. (The Boston Post). Copyright In th United Kingdom, the Dominions, Its Colonies Col-onies and dependencies, under the copy right act, by the Post Publishing Co Boeton, Mass., U. S. A. All rights re served |