New-York tribune., 1903-05-17


TRENTs TRUST AND OTHER STORIES; ,,sI3!I BY
I a:rSt C. hi'F'e l2'no' Pp -''' '0uSl'''' -'''
FROM THE UNvARYING STAR, BY, Ellsworth
Lawson. 12mo PIP. Will ~ Inc Maciil'an
Company.
Strange Adventures on the Plains. By Cyrus
Townsend Brady Illustrated 12mo PIP XII
31 Harper & Bros.
Mr.. Jackson wants to be funny and he knows
how which is one way of saying that his new
book. mine Points of the Law" is very much
worth reading There is something about its
plot which dimly recalls Stevenson in some OF
his drollest pages; there is something about the
tone of the book which makes US think OF that
uproarious tale which Mr.. Hchens wrote few
years ago, The Londoners." But in the long
run Mr. Jackson gives the impression that he
is so to say, speaking for himself. that his
fun is entirely of his own making. He begins
the book very prettily with sketch Of Windsor
Forest, in the shadow of which, however, he
presently makes US acquainted with a couple OF
burglars, secreting at the foot of a gigantic
beech the treasure of antique golden vessels.
curios and historic coins which they have just
stolen from the villa of a rich banker The
alarm is given too soon for them to carry away
their plunder then, or, for that matter for days
thereafter and while they hover about, waiting
for the police to be called from the scene, the
most innocent of London clerks pauS6S Deheath
their beech and, in a moment Of reflection, ldly
prods the earth with his walking stick What
ensues? The discovery of the treasure, of
course But this is a mere detail. Master
Richard Wayzgoose has every reason in the
world in addition to the mere dictates of hon
estv to see that the gold is instantly returned
to it's rightful owner at least put into the
hands of those who might see this end duly ac-
complished. But, as it happens, he likewise has
every reason in the world for doing nothing OF
the sort. One of these reasons is that if he were
to do the obvious thing Mr. Jackson would have
no story to tell.
1t does not matter that in this case the OBJ
vious thing would be the natural thing to do.
In the world of farce anything may happen, and
mine Points of the Law comes very near to
being farce all through. This is not to say that
the author does not know enough to make his
story all of a piece. On the contrary, 1t means
simply that he has little romance to weave
into his extravaganza and that he it with
great cIeverness, harmonizing the tender and
the comic elements in his work with delightful
art. The adventures of Wayzgoose, sentimental
and otherwise, are absorbing No matter how
farcical any episode in the book may be, 1t is
managed with such ingenuity that our patience
is never tried. We know that it is all impos-
sible. and that the arm of coincidence is
stretched to an almost incredible degree in order
to make the plot hang together. But it d0eS
hang together, and is so genuinely amusing that
we accept the authors widest flights without
a complaint. We might go into details. We
might tell how Wayzgoose carried his precious
freight not simply into Windsor town, but into
London, and then to France, where the sharpest
of criminals would have been tripped up. But
this is not a story about which the reviewer is
justified in making any but the very slightest
revelations The reader simply take our
word for it that Nine Points of the Law" is
very much worth reading.
NOUS volume which his publishers have just
added the long shelf bearing the works of
Bret Harte, and the collection rev1ves once more
the readers amazement at the manner in which
that author maintained his high quality
writer down to the very end. "Trents Trust
the tale Of nearly hundred pages, which opens
the volume and gives it its title illustrates the
cially, Bret Harte fond of returning, the
blending of people, incidents and scenes in the
California of old mining days with others drawn
from peaceful England. The hero is a young
American but his Trust involves a scape-
grace heir to an ancient title, who has run away
from that title and its responsibilities out of
love for the freedom of a rowing life. 1t is, per-
haps, more conventional story than Bret Harte
wont to tell, but it is we'll told, and is n
riched by many characteristic touches. With
Mr.. MacglOwrie's Widow carried