New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1905-05-06
MORE SUMMER NOVELS.
'iStudiesof american Life, Historical
and Modern.

AS THE WORLD GOES By Ry E 1sS 1gE &C.
A FRINGE TO ORDER 534 ros By 1s Charles Stokes
THE GLIB OF QUEER TRADES BY Gilbert K
Chesterton. Illustrated limo. pp ~" HI-
per Bros
Green l6no. PIP. I51 Indianapolis: The Boops-
Merrill Company
The great stumbling block IN the path of the
historical romancer is the difficulty OF STRIKING
Just the right balance between history and TO
nance It is so easy to put famous personages
and events IN the wrong perspective when your
hero and heroine demand. by all the laws Of hc-
ton that they should constantly occupy the
foreground The art Of adjusting all the factors
IN a novel Of this character in such wise that
they shall work tremendously together toward
q common end IS an art by Itself and even the
writer who is born with it is apt to need time
In order to use II good purpose II is espe-
,iaIIy interesting. therefore, to find Miss Theo-
sora Peck showing IN her first book, Hester OF
the Grants" q pronounced feeling for the ma
nipulation Of this art She tells a tale OF ReVo-
lutionary days In the Hampshire Grants, and,
in the telling OF It. she draws again and again
upon recorded history; but the salient merit OF
her work resides in its freedom from that air
Of oonstraint and artifce which we encounter
in SO many books of the sort IF Ethan Allen
IS put through his PAGES in this narrative. no
does not appear therein as a portentous lay
figure but as a natural human creature whom
fate has casually brought across the horizon
OF Mistress Hester and her lover. War is abroad
IN the land, but the military episodes introduced
have no more importance than the dramatic
e1igencies Of the plot demand. 1t is good
plot, with incidents in it Of treachery and valor
flight and pursuit duelling and love making
which suggest excellent powers Of invention
But most Of all Hester of the Grants is TO be
praised for It's atmosphere of truth, an atmos-
phere which envelops the substance OF the
narrative as though with the light and air and
color Of old Bennington in its most picturesque
and exciting days. The book discloses sin
cerity which promises well for the future Of its
author.
Mrs. Brooks's novel. "As the World Goes By
is aptly named. It is readable not so much for
its plot as for the impression it conveys or
human life developing under the pressure OF
ordinary experiences. In the first chapter we
are introduced TO actress and her daughter
and presently we learn that the former Is
separated from her husband. Miss Manton as
the actress is called, is the very antithesis in
character TO Kenneth McVickar, and the reader
sees at once that a rupture between the two
must have been inevitable Interest then CEN
tres In their daughter, Constance, who has the
traits 10 be expected Of her fathers child, but.
at the same time, far shares her mothers
temperament as TO fall in love with an opera
singer. Here are the materials for an ingenious
story One can imagine what the average novel
ist would have made Of them entangling four
people in a complicated tissue Of circumstance
for the sake of the circumstances. But Mrs.
Brooks has wisely preferred TO lay stress less
upon dramatic episode than upon the gradual
unfolding Of her heroine's nature. Constance
TO and CHI arm
them only by the ordinary processes, "as the
world goes by" Her mother, knowing that the
instincts of stage life are not with impunity to
be brought into contact with the instincts Of the
McVickar blood of which her daughter obvious
ly possesses abundant share. does everything
that she TO discourage Constance in her love
affair, and finally sends the operate sutton away
with negative the force of which he feels
bound to acknowledge. Meanwhile however
Constance continues to profit by experience Of
the world. and IN the upshot Of her dealings with
life the reader perceives an essentially logical
climax "As the World Goes By is a thought
ful piece Of work The gravity OF the issues set
forth within its pages is not diminished. but is,
on the contrary, made more interesting, through
the authors deftness in sketching varied scenes
OF social life.
The hero Of "A Prince to Order is an Aneri-
can stockbroker who turns up missing" with
results scandalizing to his friends in New York,
and positively astounding to himself The
friends aforesaid ask why in the world Mr.
Carey Grey should have disappeared from view
with large Of money much better left in
his Broad-st- Offices Grey himself would give ten
times the sum he is supposed TO have embezzled
for rational explanation of the situation in
which be finds himself in Paris There his mir
ror tells him that his hair has changed color.
and, though this were not enough to surprjsa
him out OF his Senses he soon discovers that
he IS expected to play the part Of the Crown
%rtnce or Budavia, q parsonage Of whose af-
Mrs and ambitions he knows absolutely moth
ing. Follows an amazing confederation of
events Firearms are let off, and, in short, the
reader is treated to one more variation on the
theme set by Stevenson in Prince Otto" and
developed by Anthony Hope in THE Prisoner
Of Zenda-" The variation is ceverly hit off
Mr.. Wayne is bHtheIy vivacious. He has a
zest for adventure and carries his startling
story through with aplomb. The book offers
excellent hours entertainment
Br.n1ful Of entertainment also is The Club
OF Queer Trades" a volume Of six short stories
In which Mr.. Gilbert K. Chesterton shows far
more aptitude for literary improvisation than
he has shown In his critical discourses. The
book reveals signs OF a satirical intent but this
is matter Of small moment. The chief thing
Is that Mr.. Chesterton has succeeded in writing
with beguilng drollery a group Of Steyensonian
yarns. The members of his Club OF Queer
Trades are individuals who have invented the
methods by which they earn their living. Take,
Tor example. Mr.. P. G. Northover. In the first
tale He is interested IN cooking UP adventures
for those whose lives are lives of plain prose
and therefore long to have glimpses Of truly
exciting worlds. In The Tremendous Advent