The San Francisco call., 1905-01-01
.H.YNE'S :: !.
"."'.As0 ms OF. Empire

~UTCLIFF!E .;dYNE. is your typ
!. .fcsei. English globe trotter, whose
~: Ilaygr0und is the five continents
. .:.. and. WHOSE sport is the seven
seas: Nigeria. and U.nalaska are one
to: him. He knows what nouptains to
climb in: Sierra Leon and what parts
of the coast: to- give a clear berth in
::Sout th..ikrlerfca. Guide books are un:
known to-: b irl,: and the unbeaten tracks
off the. worlds highway. offer opportun.:
::ityt for fugitive :rafpbles. All this is
..of< more than superficial value, for Mr..
:. Hyne writes. as well as travels; and
:: the hihdr and orie spots on.the globe
.tyhere.: :he= s>:sojourlled all effer him
: great. opportunity: to exercise his story.
*tel1ing. pEoiclivi<1es. One who KNOWS
.the.world as: ordinary individuals know
: the: ::ehyirdns.::" of their own townsite
! must. OF: necessity. bring the. fascination
.:of strange places to the telling of his
*:tales::. In: the. book of collected short
this. very. .,eleuient gives. strength to
tales already strong.::>
s.. There. is. something" Kiplingesque in
=:Hyhe::s manner of detailing the affairs
: Of sofrae .of: .BEitain's exiled sens who
are plaroQned: :on. one of these scattered
<.'atonis, Of enipire.' In the first story
of:this series; ::'The Bait the narration
]: of how the ;: pig headed missionary
started the. springs. of war 20 moving
. III. the West Coast colony. by his. own
stubborn blindness. recalls vividly some.
: OF ,Kiptlng' IS: tales about officialdom in
'Sffnla and..:the lprfsihgs in the hill
country Again, the story of the chol-.
EZRA ship; which .drifted. in the doldrums
with its rotting. crew. smacks strongly
t'of. the Singing, crude: strength of him
I: who gave. The. Man Who Would Be
/. King. and ::.aaThe City of Dreadful
Night to the. world: Hyne's handling
of. the dramatic is terse and dynamic:
t.; In try:.at the imaginative the author
:. does mot achieve: unqualified success:
! His story THE Lizard" which tells OF
the awakening Of a prehistoric dinosaur
, in. a gloomy cave, is vivid but over
!. drawn; it. is. too. much on the sensa-
!. tionaI order. to be classed as a. good
short story. 1.-THE Mummy Of Thomp-
/: son-Pratt..' is better but not wholly
original for Sir Conan Doyle once wrote
a. mummy story having much the same
central idea: The description of the
great fire which .swept London off. the
:map:is admirably well done. aid shows
. that its writer can do much with his
Imagination: once he has it in control.
:. Some of Mr.. Hyne's tales have their
location in the United States. Here
J. the writer exhibits the same super
ficiality .of observation that we are
{: won't: to charge !aA or DUR English
travellers with. In one Of the stories a
man: is made to. live In the depths of
!. the Florida everglades, happy and
. right as a.. trivet in the matter OF
(: health and comfort, even though 1T is
a fact, as our Southern friends know,
: that. not. even: mule can long
hold. ON to life in these deadly
:swamps Again :.Hyne has drawn a
highly. dramatic ;and equally improb.
able picture. Of: session of Judge
!. Lynch's court over the crime of Caro-
lima moopshiner. The. tribunal con-
ducts its business according to Roberts
parliamentary rules :and evidences a
grave decorum and dfgnifed restraint
upon. activity which is certainly not
characteristic of a lynching bee, great
. ly as that lack may be. deplored.
.(The Macmillan Company, New York;
price 81 50.)