"GLEAMS AND GLOOMS: A STORY OF 1905."

Otago Witness, Issue 2695, 8 November 1905, Page 81

"GLEAMS AND GLOOMS: A STORY OF 1905."

By Babbib the Egyptian. Dunedin : E. J. Stark and Co.

There is a simple, natural, and very human little story unfolded in the pages of this little booklet. * The scene is laid ] in Dunedin, and' well-known 'city. localities give an air of vraisemblance to the minor details. The story opens with the completion of the little home which is to be love's shrine for Max Maitland and his girl love, Xaomi. The marriage, however, seems likely to be indefinitely postponed, for Max meets with a severe accident, which would entirely incapacitate him from work for at least six months, and no work of course meant no salary ; no salary, no marriage. Naomi's only sister had died a short time previously, leaving two little children ; and these children she is now asked to take care of, receiving in return a handsome salary. With difficulty Naomi persuades Max to agree to an immediate marriage, thus enabling her to be always with him, his devoted nurse and housekeeper, as well as mother to i her little nephew and niece. It seems an alarming contract for a bride — a big order, in fact; but is successfully carried through by the bright, unselfish girl. The chief interest of the little story, of. which this is merely the central thread, lies in the question of No-license as it affects some of the principal characters of the plot. The question, however, inough strongly urged and graphically demonstrated, is handled wisely and moderately, and the little red booklet is a valuable advocate for the cause which its author expresses so enthusiastically. 'The price of "Gleams and Glooms" is a moderate one — threepence.