Page:L M Montgomery - Chronicles of Avonlea.djvu/327

 §THE DOMINANT CHORD

(By (Sdward Kimball

With a frontispiece, in full color, from a painting by William Bunting

Cloth decorative, net $1.25; postpaid $1 .40

In this battle of wits and wealth, of love and pride, we have a new and novel interpretation of Wordsworth's " simple plan, that they should take who have the power, and they should keep who can."

" The Dominant Chord" is a story in which the characters that count are few — just a man and a maid. But the man is one accustomed to make his own way and gain his end, and when convention proves a barrier in his path, Gordon Craig defiantly sweeps it aside and takes decisive measures to win the heart of Alice Huntington. The unusual methods em- ployed by the man only serve to arouse the natural fighting instincts of the girl; a girl whom we admire for her womanli- ness, and who is a thoroughbred in every act.

There is a thread of scientific prophecy running through the book which, while it does not distract attention from the clash of two strong, primitive, and, to a certain extent, antag- onistic natures, will not be found to lessen the interest in the story for those inclined to speculate on future developments in the field of applied science.

But it is the story that counts, and this conflict of wills, un- der unusual circumstances, between a girl of wealth and posi- tion and a man of genius, an engineer, who does things, gives a plot that is strong, compelling, and fascinating, and the un- looked for denouement serves to emphasize the author's as- sertion that " in all rich lives, lives that are worth the living, the dominant chord is love, and always, always and inevitably the strongest thing will win."