New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1907-01-06
TALES OF ACTION.
Pomance, Mystery and AdUenture
IN Recent Fiction.

IhPP Percy James Brebner Christian Lys) With
,eS frederick Warne & Co PIP ~
-uE TREASURE OF PEYRE GAILLARD. By
Be9 M w The c s9n5esn
~ TREATY WITH HONOR. A Romance of Old
quebec BY. Mary Catherine Crowley. with
6 nv = ln 20 Little. Brown & Co --'l'- i-'i'''
,r THE COURT OF THE MAHARAJA BY
~ Louis Tracy. With four full Illustrations
iamo DID. 3l6 The American News Company
IN '-The Crucfble OF Circumstance" Mr.. Breb-
,s, tells tale Of action in the form of a novel
~ character. with the result that the book sue
.osds IN being neither the one thing nor the
,fher. The action is interrupted by long-winded
discussions of ethical problems, and the charac-
terzations Tail at times to stand the test of
consistency This Is to be regretted, because
,be movement Of the story IS I'm its main lines
fuI of interest, and because Mr. Brebner has a
happy knack of drawing entertaining and truth
full sketches Of character as seen under given
sets Of conditions Where he does not require
much of the personages of his tale, they ara
ufelike and generally engaging, but those upon
whom falls the burden Of the development of
the plot do not always appear to act In one
MACE upon the same principles that guide them
In another. The story traces the rise OF a shop
girl through the music halls to secure place
Is assisted In the attainment Of her ambitions
by disinterested man Of letters and selfish
capitalist who poses a philanthropist- The
love interest is introduced through a third man
whose tender conscience is more potent in caus
Ing him distress after he has done what "a
wrong than in leading him to do what IS right
In the first place. The deus ex machina ia a
self-sacrihcing cripple, whom the heroine has
In her 1oxru 81
watchful solicitude enables him to execute a
rough and ready justice In the denouement The
book suggests that the author is capable Of
writing something better.
There is always a fascination IN a tale Of
buried treasure, especially when its discovery
depends upon the deciphering of a battling cryp-
togram- With these wei worn properties Mr.
Bennett has worked to good SUCCESS. relating
how the ruined fortunes of a South Carolina
Huguenot family In the present day are rnended
by the discovery Of wealth of gold and nIafe
and jewels hidden by an ancestor I'm q swarnn
during the Revolutionary War. Hand in hand
with the UnraTeIing Of the mystery by a visit.
ing civil engineer cousin marches the develop
ment Of a simple but agreeable love story. The
author shows himself apt also, In portraying
conditions In the South in al the changing
perlodS tnrouSn WHICH ne follows the history Of
the family from the time Of the conceaIing Of
the treasure, through the successive unsuccess-
full quests for II, down to the time of its actual
unearthfng. The atmosphere Of romance appro-
pirate to such a subject Is consistently main
tained IA The text and is not altogether dis
PEELED BY the inartistic character OF the Illus
trations Mr.. Bennett evtnces more than ordf-
nary ingenuity In the construction OF his u,ys-
terry and IN the solution Of # and the effect
Of actually is wen carried out It Is, In fact
owing to the accumulation Of evidence and null
tplicity Of details with which the author SUD-
ports his thesis that the story occasionally draa
IN the telling The suspense Is SO well kept I'D
and presses on to the conclusion The quality
Of the tale Is much superior TO the general
average OF stories based On similar occurrences
The Province Of Quebec during the DAVIS Of the
Ieoeunon OF lS37 and 1893 Is the scene Of Miss
Crowiey's latest novel. the hero being a Young
lFlsh-American who supports the cause Of the
7eFolutonistS He falls in with another soldier
OF fortune, young Polish patriot, and the two
become oeFotedly attached to each other Both
lose Their hearts to the same Canadian girl. a
daughter Of one Of the old seigniories Of tbe
flche1e1 Each believes the other TO be the IA
F0rea surtor and his self-efacing efforts to ad-
vance lie cause Of his friend prolong the court
snip and the suspense until the end of the con-
A4cI and throw upon the heroine the burden of
utScioslnS her preference The author has evil
oentty made careful study of the period, and