Show LITERARY REVIEW JESS i One of the latest books issued from the press is Jess by R Rider Haggard The author is a newly risen light upon the literary horizon and though this light has metorlike characteristics it bids fair to burn steadily and long Mr Haggard has an imagination of flame but it is perfectly and admirably controlled The bold genius of the new writer won instant recognition from the reading world when he gave to it that marvellous creation She the ever glorious With She Mr Haggards success was an accomplished fact Daringly Dar-ingly launched his ventursome literary bark was borne straight onward by untrained un-trained but powerful strokes over the rough and uncertain waves of public favor to a safe and sure anchorage Mr Haggards name is now its own guarantee guar-antee Radically different in plot and finish to She his new novel Jess is a true offspring of Mr Haggards peculiar genius and bears throughout his unmistakable un-mistakable ear marks The same fiery originality forces recognition and brands itself upon the attention Jess is a tale of Southern Africa with the scene laid in Transvaal Jess herself is the heroine and upon her turns all of the interest of the story The time is just prior to and during the successful revolt of the Boers against the British Government The action of the story begins be-gins at a Transvaal ostrich farm owned by Silas Croft a sturdy Englisnman who is approaching the sere and yellow leaf of a life mostly spent beneath the torrid rays of an African sun With him live his two nieces Jess and Bessie Croft English born but Transvaal bred To this family comes Captain John Neil late of the English army as part owner of the farm old Silas Croft can no longer look after himself Neil is an English gentleman honest true and brave and while riding toward the old farm house for the first time has the good fortune to rescue sweet Bessie Croft from the dangerous attack of a savage cock ostrich for which service ser-vice Bessie rewards him by falling in love with him on the spot Before Neil and Bessie reach the farmhouse farm-house they are met by Jess who at once assumes the domination of the story Bessie is lovely with a fairskinned blue eyed lovliness and a character to match Jess is plain but her features are lighted with a pair of dark eyes in whose wide depths can be read the story of a nature passionate yet reserved strong yet gentle Jess too falls in love with the English Captain and her love is as the consuming torch to the feeble flicker of I Bessies affection Neil himself engrossed in the novel duties of managing a Transvaal farm is for awhile impervious to Cupids dart but is instinctively drawn towards Jess Suddenly Bessie in a burst of sisterly confidence confides her love for the English Captain to Jess and the latter with the selfsacrifice inherent to her large nature determines that she will not stand in her sisters way and with despair in her heart leaves the farm for a visit to friends in a distant town of the Transvaal Left to the fascinations of the clinging and gentle Bessie before his heart had had time to declare in favor of the nobler Jess Captain Neil soon surrenders renders at discretion and becomes Bes sies betrothed lover But a second and fateful disturbing element had already appeared upon the scene in the person of Frank Muller a large landed proprietor of the district This man is of mingled Boer and En gUsh parentage is a native of the I Transvaal wields great power and au hority is recklessly brave as reck = lessly evil and stained with all of the crimes of a southern frontier Muller Mul-ler loves Bessie Croft Proposes Is refused re-fused and after an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate Neil disappears The revolt now comes on and with Frank Muller as one of the leading spirits the Boers inaugurate that struggle which ended in the disgraceful and disastrous defeat of the English and the triumphant triumph-ant reestablishment of the Transvaal Republic The town in which ess is visiting is invested by the Boers and Niel starts from the from the farm to rescue her He reaches the town finds Jess and together to-gether the they are compelled to remain in the beleaguered place Intimately associated Neils heart soon speaks and he knows that he loves Jess and Jess alone Jesss love l too asserts itself will tenfold force and her struggles against it are the very agony of pathos Neil is wounded in a sortie from the town is reported dead and Jesss passion bursting all bonds declares itself While in an agony of grief Neil appears to her and discovers that he too is loved All disguise is now useless and the two noble hearts unite I in an effort to crush their mutual and hopeless passion Muller now again appears He gets Neil and Jess a pass from the town through the Boer Army for the farm with the intention of murdering them both on the waymarrying Bessie by force and appropriating the farm Neil and Jess are accordingly attacked at night but escape es-cape leaving Muller under the impression impres-sion that they have perished Muller then proceeds with a force of Boers to the farm arrests old Silas tries him by a mock court martial sentences him to death and makes Bessies hand the price of her uncles life In the meantime Neil and Jess are moving toward the farm also suffering from exposure and privations mL Lh 1 r r TI Liley are capiureu uy u iurco VM > vvi within sight of home and are separated Neil being taken to a neighboring Boer farm while Jess is allowed to go on home She reaches there after nightfall and surprises sur-prises Muller in conversation with her sister Her presence is not known and from the conversation she learns the full extent of Mullers baseness She follows Muller to his tent waits until he sleeps and then enters and drives a knife through his heart Pursued by remorse and the dark shadows of her crime the unhappy Jess flees wildly through the night she knows not where In the meantime Neil has I made his escape and he too is in flight He reaches a small cave in the side of the mountain in whose shadow the farm lies and falling exhausted on the ground sinks into a profound sleep In a short time Jess approaches the cave and enters Exposure privation and the shock of the terrible deed she has committed have done their work Sinking down by her lovers side with her hand in his and her head upon his breast she dies Poor darkeyed deephearted I Jess This was the fruition of her love I this her bridal bed Jess is intensely I dramatic without being marred by the sensationalism which is the curse of the hour Those who take up the book will be loth to lay it down and its memory will long abide with them THE HORNETS NEST Dodd Mead Company have just issued a new book by E P Roe called I The Hornets Nest or a Tale of Love and War Mr Roe is wellknown as the author of several popular works of fiction fic-tion of which perhaps Barriers Burned Away and From Jest to Earnest have been most widely read Mr Roes works are all written for young readers and have heretofore been characterized by a pronounced religious sentiment In the Hornets Nest however the author has attempted anew a-new departure and while the work is still addressed to the juvenile capacity it is evidently intended as a novel pure and simple with no sermon appearing between the lines We cannot say that Mr Roe has added to his reputation in straying from the wellbeaten road with which he was so familiar The Hornets Nest is not the best constructed con-structed in the world and offers very few pegs upon which to hang a criticism whither good or bad How over Mr Roes practice as a story teller has come to the rescue and though light the book is entertaining People both old and young could while away a leisure hour to much less advantage than in reading the Hornets Nest THE WEST SHORE The West Shore for February 1887 has I been placed on our table The West Shore is a magazine published at Portland Port-land Oregon and is devoted to the interests inter-ests of the Pacific coast It is neatly got up and is full of valuable and interesting matter The West Shore should be a success TilE GOLDEN ARGOSY That popular periodical for the young The Golden Argosy of March 12th is at hand and is fully up to the standard I of reading matter which will interest the I old as well aa the young It contains a sketch of Col 0 K McClure editor of the Philadelphia Times a description of the Octopus by H M Hamilton an interesting in-teresting article on the Island of Java and fine serial stories b by authors of repute re-pute besides numerous tidbits of literature litera-ture Frank A Munsey S Warren St NY I |