New-York tribune., 1905-02-26

is want Of character We refer to the group
Of short stories, illustrating in action, under
Lew conditions, the traits of some parsonage
previously introduced in a similar scheme. This
method permits the writer Of fiction to multiply
volumes about his pet hero until nature rebels.
The question soon provoked is a simple one.
How long" muses. the reader. will friend
So-and-So hold out?' In some cases it seems
as II he were going to hold out indefinitely. We
had thought that Conan Doyle in fair
way to provide one of them, but after reading
the thirteen new adventures in The Return of
Sherlock Holmes we are convinced that he has
stopped not moment too soon, if. indeed. he
mas not stopped several moments too late. There
IS not yam in this book which is not, in
measure. entertaining. hut that is small praise
10 bestow upon the author of those first bewitch-
ing narratives in which a new and permanent
figure was added TO detective" literature He
IS Ingenious as OF yOre, and springs his sur
pIises upon the reader with the same instinct
that he showed at the outset for making the ex-
planation Of a mystery almost exasperatingly
simple. But the machinery creaks in the later
tales as il never creaked in their predecessors,
and most Of all do we miss the indefinable eIe-
ment which counts for much IN work of the
sort, the strange impetus which seemed to
carry Conan Doyle over all obstacles when
was 10 the public.
We make due allowance for the fact that the
limitations Of the great detective in current fic-
ton have helped to bring him into disrepute;
that the mere sound Of his name had become a
little tres0me. But we quite that we
have not lost our taste for good detective stories,
and that If Conan Doyle had gone writ
Ing such stories he might safely have made
Sherlock Holmes the hero of them without caus-
ing anybody the least uneasiness. The trouble
with the stories in "The Return of Sherlock
Holmes is that they are not quite good enough,
considered either intTinsically or in comparison
with those in which the author fixed his stand
ard In The Adventure of the Second Stain."
the last recorded in this volume. Holmes is de-
scribed as having definitely retired from Lon
don and betaken himself to study and bee farm
ing on the Sussex Downs" We hope that for
the sake Of his fame. and Conan Doyle's, he viii
stay there
Miss Siberrad made a good impression when
She entered the ranks Of the novelists, a few
years ago and then, as time went on, she caused
the exacting reader to doubt whether she had
the staying power essential to a serious career
IN her profession, The volume of short stories
which she has Just published dissipates this
ooubt Il is interesting volume, well con-
ceIYed and well written. She draws the material
Tor her six romantic narratives from one of those
old Eng ish neighborhoods in which queer types,
and queerer habits Of mind and action, seem
natural enough-they go so well with the scenes
oeneted A single character is made prom
lnent throughout. Tobiah the Dissenter, pous
and brawny man, is called upon again and
again 10 bear hand in the working out of one
little drama or another At the same time Miss
hAberrad shows her cleyerness in restraining
The performances of this actor; though he is