New-York tribune., 1907-06-01
Il HAUNTED HOUSE.
Another Story By the Author of
Joseph Vance."

ALICE -FoR-sHoRT. A Dichronism BY William
e Morgan l2mo. PIP X. 563, Henry Holt
II Is only when the last page of this book ha s
been reached that the reader is willing n admit
that Mr.. De Morgan has scored something very
like failure and then he makes the admission
| with reluctance. Joseph Vance" left an in
effaceable and. withal, peculiar impression To
read ii was to develop Il positive affection for
| the genius of the author and to feel a genuine
solicitude for the future Of his art We do not
hesitate to say that we awaited with impatience
the publication Of "AIice-for- Short" and took It
up on its appearance the other day with lively
prejudice in its favor The prejudice has been
of no avail Unwillingly but steadily. as we
have turned these pages, we have found them
disappointing; hoping constantly that the mar
rative would take more encouraging turn. but
arriving. at the end. at the sorrowful conviction
that Joseph Vance" has not. alas. had a
worthy successor. That the reader thus per-
ssts down 70 the end is testimony the force
OF personality in literature. Mr.. De Morgan
has way of writing that in spite OF all draw
backs. somehow carries him through His vivid
presentation OF a type or a scene, his artless
dialogue, his unforced tenderness-these things
save him from writing a merely mediocre book.
But they not enough to make. by them
selves, masterpiece
There striking points of resemblance be-
tween "Alice-for- Short and Joseph Vance" II
viii be remembered that the earlier book has
for its hero the son OF drunkard in the hum
hlest circumstances, and that this son is fortu-
nate enough to fall into the hands Of a prosper
Gus family. In due course the drunSard is set
upon his feet, and Joe Vance devotes his life
to the daughter Of his benefactor. Alice for
Short" has a heroine who gives the book its
title. She is the child OF a drunken mother and
is living in squalor when her father gives the
wretched woman her death blow and then com
mits suicide. Alice-for- Short is thereupon
promptly rescued by a prosperous family and
grows up to give her whole heart to the young
member Of it who first charges himself with her
welfare At the outset do not even rnomen-
tarily resent the authors repetition of A ia
miliar posture of affairs We feel that he must
know what he is about, and though the opening
chapters move slowly we remember that tn,
same thing occurred in Joseph Vance" and was
powerless TO spoil an essentially beautiful book
But confidence in Nh De Morgan weakens as
chapter follows chapter without any sign being
given that he has anything Of moment to say.
that he has a story TO tell really worth the tell
ing One Of the great merits Of Joseph Vance"
was its triumph the absence of plot in the
conventional sense Of the word. The book held
something better than a mere plot; Il held issues
OF life and death, 1t brimmed over with the IN
cidents OF human careers. 1t carried veritable
men and women from the cradle to the grave,
and kept the reader anxious and absorbed until
all the poignant histories in II were told II
was full rich, picture Of life and as such #
made plot and counterplot. as those properties
go, seem only properties and nothing more.
There is little in Alice for Short" to atone for
the slenderness Of such more or less Fictitious
interest a we have in mind
II is necessary that the central figure in
novel should not simply exist but should have
reasons for existing should do things or have
some critical relation to things that are done.
The things that are done in Alice for Short
scarcely seem TO touch the heroines character
or her life. The house in which she lies asleep.
grimy. neglected child, on the night that wit
nesses her fathers dreadful deeds is an ancient
Soho mansion, with romantic and even tragic
past II is haunted by the actors in a certain
mysterious drama. and Alice has more than one
into MS fathers house, occupies of the
studios that had been made out of the spacious
chambers in this building. He continues do so
as the years roll on, and the little waif develops
into an attractive young woman. and Number
40' thus is kept in the story. Very soon Mr
De Morgan suggests that he is going to make
great play with this haunted house. He intro
CQCeS one cleW aIter anOther 10 The secret which
feel is ultimately going to prove intensely IN
teresting But though we forever coming
back TO the mystery and always on the verge
Of growing excited over ii, the long looked for
moment of satisfaction never actually arrives.
The motive is spread thin a vast amount
Of space, until finally Il is frittered away and
the chapters which supposed to straighten
everything out read with languid unconcern
This, this, could have been forgiven. II Mr.
De Morgan had contrived to make his characters
memorable. but have said the best that
be said for Them when we have spoken, as in our
first paragraph, OF the authors vivid portrayal
of them
Vivid portraiture is virtue by itself, but
Insist upon having the sitters in novel men
and women so created to take firm hold upon
our sympathies. There not a figure in
Joseph Vance" that the reader could meet with
Indifference. Every was an affair of flesh
and blood and original into the bargain. Ii is
hardly an exaggeration to say thar not one Of
the figures in Alice for Short leaves this living
and provocative impression. II Is not that the
personages here are creatures of sawdust and
steel springs puppets. devised from the outside.