New-York tribune., 1904-09-03

and sentimentalty, a discursive tale (WHICH IS
hardly tale) in which commonplace people are
made interesting and likable. The claims OF
love- though not forgotten, are not given unoue
emphasis The attention OF the reader Is draWh
first and last to the engaging or piquah' fai' ,
of a dozen different types and he is naoe u Ieei
not that he IS assisting at any very exuaorol-
nary drama but that he is sharing IN the pleas
ures and worries of an ordinary circle of pleas
ant people. Two special gifts belong 10 the
author of this book. She understands her fel-
lows. and she has genial. spontaneous way OF
handling their characters. Moreover, her men
and women always have characters. They are
genuine and original in their modest way ana
we take inevitably lively interest In thefh anu
in their affairs. A pretty book is Ihe woman
Errant." and sunny too, with truth IN IT, ana
an atmosphere that is altogether begutiins
Mr. Paternoster has written an entertaining
story around his idea Of a twentieth century
Dick Turpin. operating a motor car OF uhpaI-
alIeled speed and control, and has overcome the
literary difficulties of the case in highly IN
genious fashion. If his detective is rather more
the man OF the world than is usually the case
and a little less analytical than Mr.. Sherlock
Holmes, he is none the less agreeable on the
first account, and his apparent lack OF penetra-
tion permits us TO enjoy for longer period the
daredevil deeds of the Motor Pirate. The mover
is both a detective story and love story, ana
the two are intertwined with narrative OF ex-
citing adventures. In order to secure for the
pirate a machine that should surpass anything
hitherto known to automobile manufacturers,
the author has conceived him the accom-
plished inventor of the novel car he uses. Such
a machine if put on the market, would nat
urally be of far more profit to the inventor than
oIxy tn T1iNl
road as a highwayman; and man must
probably be crazy who would sacrifice an as
sured fortune for a precarious If exciting liveli-
hood the irrationalty of his acts but proves the
more battling to those who are on his track, and
leads logically TO the dramatic climax in which
the benefits OF his skill lost to posterity or
left 10 be worked out anew by other and saner
investigators. If there is any inconsistency In
a man who is so clever in one direction being
so unbalanced in another 1t is, at least not
without its parallels IN real life, and is readily
overlooked in the interesting character or the
story The author has not followed the usual
method of writers of detective stories in max
ing an absolute mystery of the identity of his
villain and perhaps II is the ability OF the read
er TO pick up the clews little faster than the
hero and his detective friend that seems to de-
tract somewhat from their cleverness in finally
running him to earth. The interest is rather
that of the playgoer who knows, or suspects
the real villain all along and whose sympathies
are enlisted in the efforts of the other charac-
ters to arrive at the knowledge which he has
already attained through his superior facilities
or insight The experiment is a dangerous one.
but proves not unsuccessful in the present IN