New-York tribune., 1907-08-17
H ROUGH DIAMOND
The Story of Good Girl srits Bad
Hammers.

GLEN. By Edna Kenton. Illustrated. 12mo, pp,
20 The Century Company.
a LOST LEADER. By E Phillips Oppenheim.
Illustrated by Fred Iegram- 12no. Pr. e96
THE TRAITOR a Story the Fail of the IN
visible Empire. BY Thomas Dixon. Jr. Illus
trated by c; d Williams. l2mo, PIP. S3l. Double
day, Page & Co
Miss Kentons novelette, does not begin very
well, but it improves with the development Of
its simple plot Glenn Merritt the heroine is
girl with good heart, whose manners want
polish and repose. The daughter Of an actress
who did not understand the art of bringing up
child in the way in which IL should ge, and in
dulged in her whims by father who has Struck
II rich" she carries herself with breezy fear
lessness that is made the more piquant by her
slangy speech. When the story opens she has
crossed the path of lad whose family traditions
are utterly opposed to all her habits, and of
course he has fallen head over heels in love
with her. Thenceforth the reader observes
empsing conflict between two modes Of thought
and feeling. Reggie's stately mother asks elem
TO pay her visit, and the upshot of this clever
move is a situation that threatens TO be tragic.
but ultimately takes on the tone of comedy. The
authors touch is not very sure either in her por
trayal of the heroine in her treatment of the
very different subsidiary types. But at least
she succeeds in making Glen sympathetic and
TO like the bright, wholesome. and
picturesque figure of unconventionality around
whom the little tale is written.
The hero of "A Lost Leader" is one OF those
dark personages dear 10 certain school Of
novelists-a promising young statesman with
secret trouble that paraIyzes his energies and
Obstructs his career Mr.. Lawrence ManneriRg
is Englishman of pertentous political abil-
ities, but when we first meet him he has. for
some reason or other, abandoned public life and
buried himself in the country. The villain of
the piece comes down from London 10 recall him
TO the arena. He refuses. But life is not 20
be arranged by any in this simple fashion.
Mr.. Mannering has fallen in love with the
Duchess of Lenchester. Also there is a lady in
London with some knowledge in her possession
which is dangerous, to say the least, IN so far
as it concerns Mr.. Mannering. What is the poor
man TO do amid the complications by which he
is beset? He does not know. but fate helps him
part Of the way TO decision. and he IS pres
eatly engaged once more in the political trans
actions upon which he had meant TO turn his
back forever Obviously, his troubles have only
Just begun. Mr.. Oppenheim must tell his story,
and SO his hero esnerges from one predicament
only to find himself ia another. Some ingenuity
is shown by the author he unfolds his MARIA
tive, but otherwise "A Lost Leader" is not very
impressive. 1t belongs In the category Of un-
important though entertaining fiction.
Miss Stella Butler, the heroine of THE Trai-
tor" is a maiden fill the heart OF the gallery
god with Joy Here is one of her soIioquies
Rah, What 10 me is the life OF the man who
struck nv father dead at my feet! I'll amuse my
self by piayiag the game Of love with him for
week. and then for the master stroke III watch
him as mouse. and when I'm ready. strike
10 kill II he had no mercy. / shall have none.
Poor Stella Her work is cut out for her 1t
is all very we'll for indignant young heroine
to take the centre of the stage with these high
resolves, but how she keep ft when every
BODY else I'm the iurid meiodrama Is behaving in
the same gorgeous manner? The old Judge who
causes all the trouble. the young lawyer who
hates him. the members of the Ku Klux Klan
who come in ghostly wise upon the scene, the
quaint detective from the North and the miscel-
laneous darlies-ali these pass and repass across
the stage with air that somehow makes it
impossible for US to take them very seriously.
This tale of reconstruction days in the South
is crude in its effects, and sometimes these have
a rough sincerity about them. but taken
whole the book leaves an impression oe fiat
commonplace.