.Mjkz.MjQyNQ

the way they made many of their articles of common use; their form of worship of the Great Spirit, their "medicine men" or "m'teoulins"; their general honesty and nobility. Mr. Roberts repeats a great deal, or rather reiterates somewhat painfully at times, his own opinions of the distinctly superior qualities and true nobility of the Abenaki. his book really carries a most valu-able history of Maine Indians, and glorifies that interesting his-toric character, "Natanis" whom he calls "wisest of the Abena-kis" and the delightful character of Hobomok, designated as "the best of the 'm'teoulins.' And --to complete the circle of the notable Indian characters in 'Arundel' we have a delightful characterization" of "Jacataqua," Indian princess, at Swan Is-land, in the Kennebec, opposite Richmond, concerning which we ourselves have written so much and which is such historic ground. Our readers may feel, as we used to feel, that Jacataqua was "renowned" chiefly for the tale that she "followed Aaron Burr into the wilderness, hypnotized, as it were by the smiles of that strangely irresistible lover." This must be unjust; for Mr. Rob-erts makes Jacataqua a most lovely person, the blood-sister of Steven Nason, probably the daughter of his father in some ro-mance of his earlier life, when he roamed amid the Abenaki; for Jacataqua's mother "Robomis" loved Steven's father.

---

The book is described by its reviewers as a "maelstrom of ac-tion."We find is hardly that. Two definite adventures occupy its romantic movement. One is the chase of a French nobleman up the Kennebec to and beyond Swan island to the neighborhood of the rapids above Cushnoc or Augusta, where ill-fate befell Steven and their chase of the nobleman was over. This man "Guerlac" had murdered Indians; stolen Steven's sweetheart at Arundel; and escaping carried her by force to Quebec. From that adventure Steven and his father's friend returned. The second episode of large moment after Steven's young man-hood is attained, is the Arnold expedition to Quebec---a historic tale of Maine---herein told in almost painful detail, at times, yet an epic of thrilling encounter and heroic sufferings. The man of the Arnold trail forms the inside of the covers of the book and makes easy tracing from Arundel to Quebec. It is a grim and heartrending tale, enlightened by the most intimate portraits of Arnold, Burr, Daniel Morgan and riflemen, Henry Dearborn, Roger Enos, Natanis, Hobomok, Jacataqua and a wonderful girl Phoebe, native of Arundel---a careful, engaging sprite of the sea, sailor, swimmer, warrior, fighter--the finest character of the book, and so delicately and gradually limned that she will love--or should live--in fiction. We delight--and you will delight--in the intimate and pains-taking record of trips along shore in the sloop, which Phoebe built and captained; in its mention of rivers, reaches, cross-cuts and clever sailing along shore and up the Kennebec. You will en-joy the picture of Falmouth (Portland) of that time; the intimate pictures of Washington's camp in Cambridge, Mass., the buffoon-ery of Captain Huff, the politics of the times; the tales of prodig-ious eating and drinking; the tavern tales; the escapes; am-bushes; the pictures of the warriors of the forests; the episodes at Dead River; the trails via Brunswick and Merrymeeting--trails that we ourselves followed often as a lad, and that now seem again to press beneath the feet. The Arnold expedition will need no other historian--if this passes muster for accuracy as we assume it will.One lives again the cold, wet, and hunger; and again lives to regreat the terrible mistake that unwise counsellors put over against Arnold, when he failed to use the time-tried practical Indian canoe and took to the heavy, lumbering and wholly inadequate lumberman's batteaux, for his portage and his men. That one mistake, changed history.