New-York tribune., 1906-09-08

Clarence r Underwood.
pp. xi. $50. Doubleday. Page & Co.
THE LION AND THE MOUSE. BY Charles Klein.
psy by r,br ar american life nSvezed from the
art Travis ia OTnSGws pp 500 usatf6S " ~ Ssg
Company.
| THE 2, YARN OF OLD HARBOUR TOWN. BY W.
George W. Jacobs & Co
THE MYSTERY OF THE SHADOW. BY Fergus
Sro,,b Win sixteen illustrations by A T.
Sinith. lzno, pp Will 27s. B. w. Dodge & Co
The builders of railroads commonly get a good
deal Of credit for their achievements but their
reward is nggardy If the noveIists tell the truth
about the difficulties with which they have TO
contend Every and then We have a new
story about the lawless West, and in 1T the hero
is always terribly handicapped in his efforts to
do his duty by the capitalists who employ him.
IL he is not building a railroad for them he is
digging a mine or developing a ranch and he is
driven almost to tears by cloudbursts. landsldes
or wicked men. In Mr. Spearman's novel a rail-
road is TO the fore, and the cause OF all the
trouble is an excessively wicked person named
Sinclair. This individual Is clever at his work.
When there is a wreck on the road he is the
one man to clear the track in the shortest pos
sibe time. incidentally however. he develops
thieving proclivities and is presently dismissed,
under decidedly dramatic circumstances. by
young official. who is of about equal Importance
in the story with the man who gives II its title.
Whereupon follow earthquake and eclipse. Mr..
Sinclair takes 20 wreckng trains on his own
hook. and whispering Smith proceeds to hunt
him down. The result is good story.
1t may be that railroads running through lone
ly regions suffer the railroad IN this book
suffers. II may be that there are men IN the
world as clever with a revolver as is whispering
Smith. That, however. is not the point The In
teresting thing is that Mr.. Spearman has a way
or exciting sympathy for his characters. You
watch their doings with genuine concern. When
MI. McCloud discharges Mr. Sinclair and that
worthy promptly declares war you become anx-
ious 10 know just how the battle is going TO end
and when Whispering Smith arrives upon the
scene your curiosity is heightened, for he intro
duces somewhat mysterious element into the
tale II is plain that he is a strong man, but he
Is also original and IL is never possible 70 tell in
advance precisely the turn which Will be taken
by affairs under his guidance Once when
illumination comes. the reader is grievously dis
appointed 1t is Smiths duty to hunt the dis
carded husband of the woman he loves, and he
actually consults her as 10 whether. when he
meets the Outcast, he is TO shoot be shot.
This is about as unchivarous attempt TO place
a dreadful responsibility upon the shoulders OF
a woman as could we'll be devised. It is into
the bargain. glaring example of Mr.. Spear
mans tendency toward the improbable. But
with so much skill does he spin his yarn that We
overlook even this He interests US. and We go
on in appreciative mood to the end.
'The Incomplete Amorist" is an illustration
OF the curious way in which a writer will
blithely deviate from his her accustomed
path. Mrs. Bland may be- for all know. the |
author of many novel, but all we have ever !
read OF hers has been fiction for children-good
fiction cleverly invented and set forth with a
Orfaff fe
neither cleverly invented nor pleasantly writ |
ten. It is on the contrary, rather silly stuff !
The hero is a fearful frt. We are asked TO be- |
lieve that his eyes have miraculous power |
and that the breaking of hearts is almost sec |
ond nature 10 him, but never for so much as the !
fraction OF q second does he do anything say |
anything which inspires the reader with the /
faintest confidence in his fascinatiOns. The |
heroine. likewise, though meant 10 be an adOr- |
able young thing, is merely fatuous and beyond |
measure wearisome She is an accomplished |
little liar, and she distinguishes herself at one |
stage Of the narrative by setting up hcusekeep- !
ing with frail sister picked out of the gutter |
in Paris. This is supposed to show her sublime |
innocence, but IL chiefly causes US 10 regard her |
as an impossible puppet. Decidedi5 prefer I
Mrs. Bland when she is writing JUv@r:iia
The success Of Mr.. Klein's play. The Lion
and the Mouse" has led to its being turned into I
a novel, and Mr.. Arthur Hornblow. to whom the .
task Of writing the book was assigned. has done F.
his work with credtabe aptitude. The Incl !
dents OF the drama are too familiar to need re-
capituation i'm this place. OF course. the
plotation of them in novel of four hundred /
pages necossitates a certain amount of padding.
and I'm the midst Of Mr.. Hornbow's careful de-
scrptions more than once find ourselves
wishing that he would leave the local color 20
Ia Ike care Of itself and gn on with The action
on the othcr hand. he is successful where sue
cess is most important. in keeping up the
readers suspense i'm working effectively toward
the climax The book will interest those who
have seen the play and viii doubtless send
others TO the theatre.
W. Clark Russell goes back to the early days
of the last century for the period of his Yarn
Of Old Harbour Town" It is written as though
founded upon actual occurrence. ana the au-
thor seeks to give verisimilitude To his tale by
printing photograph of the heroine's home as "a
frontispiece- II does not. however accurately /.
agree with his description I'm the text Certainly
the story is unlikely enough 10 be true II is
of course a tale of the tea and tells how a
cashiered and dissipated naval officer having
obtained command of merchant vesse; alb
ducts his sweetheart with the intention Of TAX
ing her to a foreign port marrying her. selling
the vessel and cargo. paying off his debts and
settling down to lead an honest life, The hero
inc. who apparently loves the buccaneerine
sailor nevertheless disapproves of his methods
and baf1es his intentions by feigning madness
so that he is glad 10 place her upon a home
U,srd-bound ship from which she is again res
cued by her pursuing father and his bosom
friend the narent of the ocean highwayrnan.
Continuing the chase they catch up with the
fleeing hero. who. shooting himself in despair.