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LEWISTON SUN JANUARY 21, 1930

Books and Authors JAN 21 1930

NOVEL OF EARLY MAINE

"Arundel" by Kenneth. Roberts, (Doubleday, Doran & Co.) is a bril-liant novel of early Maine of the time of the Revolutionary period, of the famous march of Arnold up the State and the attack on Quebec. Roberts is well qualified to write this stirring story. He is a lover of Maine and has a summer home in Kennebunkport. At he present time he is in Italy. The story is of a boy, Steve Nason, of Arundel whose father runs an inn. When Steve is a boy a French-man by the name of Guerlac comes to the inn, makes trouble, leads un-friendly Indians against the inn, kills one of the settlers and escapes to Quebec with a young girl who is Steve's sweetheart. Of course Steve is unable to follow her as one would today, so when Arnold comes along with the expedition planned, Steve joins, goes with them to Quebec and there finds his boyhood sweetheart but not the girl he dreamed of. He found that he loved an ideal not that girl. There is however a girl who followed his to Canada and re-turned with his heart. But the strong part of the book is the understanding of early Maine. Conditions in Maine are described minutely, the good and the bad people, the foods, the manner of preparing them, the clothing, dwellings, furnishings, how they earned living, how the soil was tilled and how hunting and fishing was done. And an intimate knowl-edge of the Maine Indians. But the greatest part of Robert's story is the ill-fated journey of Ar-nold's men through Maine. Robert Beith in the Portland Telegram says: About 1,000 men, including Mor-gan's Virginians, riflemen from Pennsylvania, soldiers, woodsmen and guides from Maine and troops from other New England States, left Fort Western, where Augusta now stands, in September, 1775. They started up the Kennebec in four di-visions, carrying bateaux and sup-plies around the falls and rapids and finally reaching the Dead River in bad condition. Provisions had been lost and spoiled. The bad weather of the fall had taken its toll of sick. Clothes were worn and the men tired. "Then came a terrible rain storm which brought floods and destroyed more supplies. Colonel Enos and his troops then deserted and Steve was held responsible. The army moved slowly up Dead River to the Chain of Ponds, suffering from exposure, hardships, labor and lack of food. Steve and his Indian friends, whom he enlisted in the expedition un-known, to Arnold who believed them friendly to the English, served as guides and hunters and saved the lives of stragglers and the sick who fell behind. "Winter snows added to the mis-ery. The men were barefooted with-out food. They ate their garments, anything. They died of exposure. Most of them had cold, pneumonia, rheumatism. .Yet they continued on-ward, dragging at bateaux that were not, destroyed, clutching their mus-kets. They crossed the Height of Land and reached Lake Megantic. They passed down the Chaudiere and finally arrived before Quebec, a ragged, half-starved army of scarcely more than 600 sickly, un-clothed men. It was mid-winter and severely cold. "There they waited for the arrival of General Montgomery and his army, recovering their strength and health. But new sickness, small-pox and pneumonia developed. Mont-gomery arrived and clothed the army in the British uniforms which he captured at Montreal. The attack was planned and the two American armies waited a favorable opportun-ity. Finally the assault was made on the night of Dec. 31, 1775. "A driving snow fell and the troops crept up the heights to the fortifica-tions. They carried scaling ladders and were confident that they would wrest the city from the English. But they were met with a terrible fire of cannon and rifles. Their own powder was dampened by the snow and they could shoot but little. They were cut down like grain, their bodies buried in the ever mounting snow, to lie there until spring. Those brave men pushed on, engaging the enemy in hand to hand fighting. But the odds were against them. The British were behind solid fortifications. Their guns would not shoot. Their lead-ers were gone, Montgomery killed and Arnold wounded. Their com-rades were dead and wounded in the darkness. Plans went wrong. Many were taken prisoner in the confusion and the attack failed. Their heroic march was in vain. "As long as this review is, it does does not mention many of the inter-esting features of 'Arundel.' It tells you nothing of the rough and ready Captain Huff, of Phoebe Marvin, the game and accomplished miss who followed the army to Quebec and re-turned with Steve's heart; the Rev. Mr. Hook, whose treachery helped to ruin the expedition; Natamis, Paul Higgins, Jacataqua, Hobomok and other Indian friends of Steve and scores of others. It neglects to men-tion that Roberts presents an inter-esting picture of old Portland and of other places in Maine. It fails to speak of hundreds of exciting little incidents that crowd to book." Mr. Beith concludes by saying that his review of the book is wholely in-adequate and to half appreciate the book, one must read "Arundel" for them selves.

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