New-York tribune., 1907-05-11

I NJ.
Gum. emo. PIP VI, 2i7. Frederick 4. Stokes
Company,
THE MAYORS WIFE. By Anna Katharine
I2no pp. 37S. Indianapolis: Bobbs- Merrill Com
Pany.
g6KTyIoSr SrdklRs dREE 4Np \ WPal5 2THEF go1 gsa
scribner's SoEs.
THE TREE OF HEAVEN. BY Robert W, Cham
+ seTS Go. Illustrated i-''o' PIP 80 D. Appleton
When the last page of "A Victor Of salamis''
is reached the reader congratulates Mr. Davis.
and in the same moment breathes a sigh of
relief i is not that he has been bored by the
tale On the contrary, he has been we'll enter
tanned But all along he has been beset with
anxiety lest the author should meet failure and
he cannot but rejoice when success is actually
achieved. The task AIr. Davis set himself was
one Of heart breaking difficulty He undertook
to tell over again. in the form Of a novel the
story Of The invasion OF Greece by the Persians
TO bring into the pages Of fiction such events as
Thermopyla and Salamis. It would seem as If
disaster were bound to overtake him as a mat
ter Of course, and, indeed, he skirts disaster
In every chapter of his book if not in every
page. But something-perhaps it Is his enthu-
sasm-has carried him through. and "A Victor
Of Salamis," instead Of being a mixture of
archaeology and fustian, is a really moving mar
rative, with figures of flesh ard blood in il and
broad vitality that touches the readers mag
nation. The thing is astonishingly human. Mr..
Davis has a sympathetic and entirely plausible
hero in Glaucon, the Athenian athlete who de-
serves we'll OF his countrymen, but is treacher-
ously made the object of their scorn. Betrayed
By his best friend, he is forced to fly, leaving
his wife behind him, and ultimately rises to high
place at the court of Xerxes. He remains how
ever, faithful Of Hellas he has always
been. and despite one losing struggle after an
other with the power of his enemy he ulti-
uately comes into his own with the proud
scousness Of having served Greece nobly and
won back the good will of those who once
thought him traitor. BY dint Of keeping the
interest Of this personality in the foreground,
Mr. Davis avoids being swamped by the grand
eur OF the themes supplied TO him by Greek
history He is as unaffectedly dramatic
though he had drawn his material from the
modern world and dealt in issues familiar to
Us all Of course, he is weak where all novelists
who choose antiquity for their field are weak.
IN his dialogue. But we can easily forgive this
for the sake Of the living tale he has told
In the Cause of Freedom is a story about
one more OF those incredible young Englishmen
who go prancing about the dangerous corners of
Europe picking up bewitching brides they
go. This time il is Russia that provides the
background for a series of perilous adventures.
made To seem not so desperately perilous, after
al, by the heros easy triumph over most OBJ
rtacles. Naturally, Mr.. Robert Anstruther gets
into many tight places, for otherwise Mr..
Msrchmont would have no story tell; but
when, in the first chapter he meets a beautiful
young Russian in distress, we know that all
his troubles Will seem like thistledown since
she is to give him his reward. She is a cOura- !
geous soul, this sorely tried damsel Circum- |
stances have swept her into the dark waters Of
secret revolution, but she bears herself with |
coolness and determination. She plays a mans
part when she and the appy-go-lucky Robert
are obliged 10 join forces IN order TO outWit a
brutal police. Mr.. MarchmOnt is apt in the
Development of his plot. This is not very COM
plcated. but just for that reason we appreciate
the more his skill in maintaining the interest
from chapter to chapter in fairly long ro-
nance. Russia in these later troublous days is |
possibly very different thing from the Russia
Of this book That does not matter. In the
Cause of Freedom" is nevertheless excltingly
readable
Mrs Rohlfs is tantalizing beyond her usual
habit in THE Mayors Wife" She piles mystery
upon mystery, so that when one is explained the
reader is still bewldered and still anxious to go
on 10 the end. The scene Of her story and the |
Salient figures in IL are arranged with the dis !
cretion Of pIactised novelist. An old-fashioned |
house, Inhabited by q man and his wife, with |
an atmosphere Of prosaic politics around them |
what could be less suggestive Of sinister things? /,
But something aiIs the mistress Of the mansion |
While her husband is performing his duties as
Mayor and is incidentally trying to get himself |
elected Governor. she pines al home. She has !
everything 10 be thankful for. but a secret woe |
hear * Il he 10