New-York tribune., 1907-04-20
DARK TALES.
Tzco N0reIi8ts at Odds scitk Their
O5cn Plots.

PHANTOM WIRES. BY Arthur sn.inger. illus lgns
trated by Arthur William Brown. l2mo, pp. 2ss.
Boston: Little, Brown & Co.
THE TURN OF THE BALANCE. BY Brand Whit
lock illustrated by Jay Hambidge. l2mO PIP.
g.. indianapolis: Bobbs- Merrill Company
The hero and heroine of Phantom Wires
make about curious pair as we have en-
countered in fiction for long time. When we
make their acquaintance the hero is playing
the part Of a burglar in the rooms of Rus
sian count at Monte Carlo, and his wife. the
heroine, surprises him. at his work. She. too, is
bent upon a sinister enterprise. In most stories
Of the sort one would know just what TO expect
from this posture OF affairs. No matter how
the plot might thcken It would involve Incl
dents of a familiar sort Mr.. Stringer is not
sparing OF such incidents, but he complicates
matters fearfully by introducing what we take
to be a moral element. If we speak with some
dubiety on this point, it is because the author
does not make what he is driving at particu-
larly plain We gather the narrative pro-
ceeds that the reckless Mr.. Durhn and his
plucky spouse are torn between conflicting emo
tions: that while their lives have not been alto
gether innocent, and cannot at the moment be
exposed with confidence 10 the scrutiny Of the
law, they dream Of settling down in the pro-
foundest respectabiity. Ultimately they seem
to accomplish their purpose. But just how they
do it and just what the ideas that control
their actions we should hesitate TO say. All we
know is that the two go fTantically from one
scene Of terror and violence to another. that
they play with the dread secrets of poolroom
gamblers and fight like mad for the possession
OF certain precious documents and that pres
emily peace broods over their home. It is all a
little bewildering-and interesting into the bar
gain. We wish that Mr.. Stringer could have
grasped his material with greater flrmness. but
since he keeps US in state Of breathless anxi-
ETY. as to the upshot Of the queer tangle he
ravels. we confess. with appreciation. to being
amused.
Mr.. Whitlock like Mr.. Stringer. is moved ap-
parenty by some mysterious purpose. He, too,
has somewhere a moral TO enforce. There are
two sets of people IN his book On one side
there is a rich and his family, including.
of course. a beautiful daughter. On the other
there are divers poor folk. including a rather
large assortment Of criminals Between the
two find various representatives, Of the law.
The transactions in which these people are con-
cerned are set forth IN a manner 10 convey the
suggestion that there is something wrong with
the social system; that. for example. a man may
be turned into paths OF wickedness through
the very stupidity, not to say malice, Of those
who are supposed TO uphold the pure principles
Of justice. One OF the figures IN the book,
young German-American, slips. little by little.
into the mire, until finally treated to the
spectacle Of his dissolution at the hands Of the
state. His history, as the author relates II. IS
shown 10 have been so gravely twisted and
warped by nominaly legal conditions to leave
him an almost irresponsible type. the object OF
our compassion rather than the object Of our
scorn. The glimpses Of the seamy side OF mod
crn life that THE Turn of the Balance gives
us hold the attention and testify to the authors
thoughtful consideration Of bitter problems; but
when al is said, he chiefly inspires wonder as
TO what his long drawn out solemnities are all
about. He does not improve matters by his
free use of the slang Of the criminal classes.
little OF that sort of thing goes great way, and
we are frankly bored by the dialogue in which
Mr. Whitlock's prison types are constantly in
dulging. It almost swamps the romance which
forms part OF his scheme.