April, 1915 
THE GARDEN M A G A Z I N E 
191 
Martha of the Mennonite Country 
A Romance of the Pennsylvania Dutch 
By Helen R. Martin 
Author of “Barnabetta,” “Tillie, A Mennonite Maid.” 
A new novel by Helen R. Martin, laid in the Pennsylvania Dutch Country, the scene of her earlier successes. 
It is the story of a brilliant young novelist who teaches school in a little country town among the Men- 
nonites in order to get fresh literary material. His amusing experiences in this new role, and how the 
wistful strangely appealing young girl, Martha, becomes the heroine of his next novel with himself the 
hero make a story of unusual charm and originality. Mrs. Martin takes us right into the heart of a typical 
It was just an old fashioned, dilapidated New England farmhouse, 
but the century-old lilac bush at the corner of the house and the 
overrun orchard that sloped down to the ferny tangle of the little 
brook proved irresistible to the tired out Man of Books. And then 
and there began the rejuvenation of “Twin Fires.” 
It is a delightful tale, full of humor and homely, genuine sentiment, 
with many practical touches that will appeal to all back-to-the- 
landers, actual and incipient. 
Running through the narrative is the thread of a charming and 
tender love story. 
Illustrated by Thomas Fogarty. Net $1.35. 
Ruggles of Red Gap 
By Harry Leon Wilson 
Ruggles — valet to the Honorable George Vane-Basingwell — tells here his 
own story of how he was lost to the American Johnnies by his master, at 
“drawing poker,” of his journey to Red Gap, Washington (“one of our colo- 
nies named after the rebel George Washington”), of his adventures with 
the “cow-persons” and that deadly animal the “high-behind,” and finally 
of his own rise to social dictatorship. His naive and unstudied compari- 
sons between customs here and in England give a decided charm to the 
narrative. 
Read other books for what you will, but read Ruggles for fun. 
Illustrated by F. R. Gruger. Net $1.25. The Honorable George at Spilmer’s Place 
Dr. Syn: A Smuggler Tale of the Romney Marsh 
By Russell Thorndike 
A picturesque adventure tale of the Marsh folk of Dymchurch and their strange night rides. It is full of the unusual and the unexpected, 
with a love story interwoven. 
To the good people of Dymchurch Dr. Syn was just their genial, kindly, well-loved vicar. But one day the King’s men came to Dym- 
church and began unearthing the secrets of Romney Marsh, and the identity of the mysterious Dr. Syn came to light along with other 
strange events. The godly vicar of Dymchurch is one of the strangest characters in recent fiction. Frontispiece. Net $1.25. 
Garden City DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY New York 
From the wrapper of “Dr. Syn.” 
If a problem grows in your garden write to the Reader's Sendee for assistance 
Ruggles and the Blackamoor 
The butler proved to be a genuine blackamoor, a 
Mr. Waterman, he informed me, his w fe, also a 
black, being a cook. An elderly creature of the 
utmost gravity of bearing, he brought co his pro- 
fessional duties, a finish, a dignity, a manner in 
short that I have scarce known exce led among 
our own serving people. And a creature he was 
of the most eventful past, as he informed me at 
our first encounter. As a slave he had com- 
manded an immensely high price, some twenty- 
thousand dollars, as the American money is called, 
and two prominent slaveholders had once fought 
a duel to the death over his possession . Not many, 
he assured me, had been so eagerly sought after, 
they being for the most part held cheaper — “com- 
mon black trash,” he put it. 
He was, as I have intimated, a person of lofty 
demeanour, with a vein of high seriousness. Yet 
he would unbend at moments as fr tnkly as a child 
and play at a simple game of chance with a pair 
of dice. This he was good enou ;h to teach to 
myself and gained from me quit ; a number of 
shillings that I chanced to have. For his consort, 
a person of tremendous bulk named Clarice, he 
showed a most chivalric consideration, and even 
what I might have mistaken for timidity in one 
not a confessed desperado. In truth, he rather 
flinched when she interrupted our chat from the 
kitchen doorway by roundly calling him “an 
old black liar.” I saw that his. must indeed be a 
complex nature. 
Pennsylvania Dutch household, and the quaint dialect with its curious turns of speech is irresistible. 
Frontispiece. Net $1.35. 
Love Letters of a Divorced Couple 
By William Farquhar Payson 
Author ot “Debonnaire,” etc. 
■“Affectionately, your ex-wife, Sybil,” was the way she signed her 
letter on the first day of her new found freedom. She felt no ani- 
mosity toward Kenneth — she wanted him to know that. And so 
began this amusing correspondence that continued from all corners 
of the globe, until it came to an abrupt close in the discovery that, 
after all, their “incompatibility” was — something quite different. 
Everybody knows this married couple, and the blind spot that 
troubled them. It is an original little book, brimful of humor and 
gay adventures but beneath its sparkling surface, lie hidden many 
searching truths about love and marriage and life in general. 
Decorated. Net $1.00. From “ The Idyl of Tivin Fires 
Mr. Miller on “Wives” 
Emmy’s my third wife a’ready. I had poor luck with 
my wives so far: they died off fur me so! Now this 
here one I’m tryin’ to keep oncet. I use her good. Our 
first wife was sich a tony Lutern yet! But our second 
was a Mennonite, and Emmy there, would like fur to 
be one of these here swell Episcolopians or whatever — 
for all her people, was Mennonites. 
From “Martha of the Mennonite Country ” 
The Idyl ol Twin Fires 
By Walter Prichard Eaton 
