New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1900-09-09
FICTION.
lNHERITANCES FROM THE SPIRIT
WORLD.

THE GATEIESS BARRIER. BY Lucas Malet
LIMO PIP. SS4. Dodd Mead & Co.
A DRAMA IN SUNSHINE BY Horace Annesley
Nachen. 12mo DIP. S47 The Macmillan Com
ling, s. r. Crockett Sir Walter Besant and
Others Edited by Cutcliffe Hyne. 12mo, PIP 3l5.
London: Methuen Co.
The author of THE Gateess Barrier" reverts
in that book TO the experimentation which made
THE Carissma' so interesting. Her new book
is somehow less striking, less plausibly written
than its predecessor, yet it s a creditabe per-
Torrance. 1t deals with the experiences of
young Englishman suddenly summoned from
America, where ne has recently married, to at
tend upon the whims of dying uncle in the
old home of the family. Laurence Rivers is the
old mans heir. and mis- presence is therefore
naturally to be desired. The author however
brings in a super1uous reason. She has the
invalid explain that he has sent for his
nephew merely to see what a commonplace man
is like! However, the queer conversations of the
two form harmless padding and cannot detract
from the interest of the mysterious discovery
made by Rivers when wandering about the
house. He enters a room once occupied by the
sweetheart of a namesake of his who was killed
at Trafalgar. The ghost of the dead woman
Ter dead lover, she succeeds in annihilating the
barriers betw cen life and the grave, and they
hold long seances together renewing the love
which we are given to understand animated the
souls Of both in a previous incarnation A
natural climax to such a situation this is
hard to devise. 1t has baffied the resources of
Lucas Malet. and toward the end of the book
matters grow anything but lifelike on the
other hand the scenes between the man and the
ghost are prettiIy managed and while The
GateIess Barrier cannot be regarded as valu-
able addition to the authors works the reader
will not find il dull.
There is no dulness in "A Drama in Sun
shine" either. In fact, Mr.. Vachell has sue
C eded in examining all kinds of sensations into
the book A woman of sinister character, dead
at the time set for the opening of the story
casts lurid shadow over all the episodes grad
ualy unfolded. An unrepentant sinner on his
deatbbed is encountered in the opening pages,
his outwardly respectable but really unscrupu-
lous brother soon appears upon the scene, and
the unacknowledged daughter Of the latter is
:hen introduced with prospect of sore trouble
before her The blood of Dolores Arrilaga, the
unhappy woman aforesaid, is in the veins of
Tamaris, and though that attractive young
lady soon makes a promising marriage the air
surrounding her is OnlinOusly charged with cleo
tricity An ancient ring that comes down to
her from Dolores carries destruction in its path.
There is considerable bOodshed in the book,
illustrative of the rough side Of life on the
Pacific Slope some years ago, and at the same
time the result of evil elements in the charac-
ters of the forbe lrs of Damars. Mr.. Vachell
pictures a decidedly modifying circle of men
and women, and as he writes with the fppancy
of immaturity his book leaves a bad taste in the
mouth This is counterbalanced however, by
the dramatic force of his narrative. The tale is
grewsome but it moves ii has plenty of vitality.
In the conclusion we find more of desire to
please the reader than that fidelity to artistic
logic which the author will probably learn in
time.
For Britain's Soldiers is more book
provoked by the South African war. 1t is com
posed Of short stories by divers authors, who
have given their work in order to obtain money
for the members of the army at the front The
collection ought to be popular, everything in
II IS amusing. The motive is generally heroic
and. of course in more than one case the sol
der is brought in and made to go through his
best PAGES Mr.. Kipling's contribution is The
Son Of His Father" which tas been printed
before It is fortunately one Of those stories by
him which can be reread with pleasure. Per
haps the most original tale in the book Is ''The
Yigia." by Morley Roberts, in which the quarrel
between two sea captains over certain rocks
which one Of them claims TO have discovered IN
rnidocean fs celebrated with capital humor.