New-York tribune., 1907-10-12
Ne7c Romances 6y Mr. Cra5Cford
Mr.. HezcLett and Others.

THE STOPPING LADY: By Maurice Hewlett.
isma pD m Ps'Fssa Tgs MsdIsy BY Armand Both
THE CRESTED SEAS BY James Brendon Con-
molly. s Illustrated 12mo' Up. sC6 Charles Serb
THE EXPLOITS OF ARsENE LUPIN. BY Mau-
re zee b4nIsnc Translated by Alexander TeXera
Mood means much 10 any novelist, but to
writer like Mr.. Crawford it is especially i'm
portant With a regularity that Anthony Troll
lope would have commended. he produces an
nually new romance. Sometimes he has made
his readers feel that he has gone through the
task simply because II was there for him TO do.
Sometimes he has told his story with the gusto
Of a rejoicing in the sheer pleasure Of
story telling. Thus he has told his latest ro-
nance. In writing "Arethusa" he has been in
the mood. using old historical figures and old
scenes with freedom and zest that OF them
selves carry the reader along The heroine who
gives the book its title is q girl of the later
fourteenth century, we'll born and brought UP
amid luxurious surroundings in Constantinople,
but thrown by the chances of fate in that turbu-
lent city into misery almost too tragic TO be
horne When the story opens il would seem i'm
possible that she should ever be able to escape
q Woful doom, but the reader familiar with
Sfr Crawford's methods has no great anxiety.
lie knows that Arethusa will not pay the last
penalty OF her seemingly irremediable position.
and that in the meanwhile her experiences will
contain elements of the keenest interest.
She first appears watching by the bedside
Of a dying woman in OF the most dilapidated
houses in the beggars' quarter. Just outside
there fingers a Bokharan slave dealer who has
resolved 10 make her his property, and when
he succeeds in this, with very little delay. he
strikes his bargain with the girl herself. 1t is a
Tepulstve episode but 1t is in harmony with the
spirit OF the time to which the novelist has gone
for his motive. and, what is more, Arethusa's
sale Of herself is made in circumstances which
only cause US to admire her character. Luckily,
too, the Bokharian acquires his beautiful mer-
chandise at the very moment in which a Gus
toner has approached him. and this customer is
10 less parsonage than Carlo Zeno. the Vene-
tain whose deeds among the golden memo
Ties Of the city on the Adriatic. He is young
man at that period Of his career which is ex-
plotted by Mr.. Crawford, and when Arethusa
enters his house the reader knows that she will
not be sent to Marco Pesaro for whom she has
been purchased. but will remain by the side OF
the hero and there live out a wonderful romance.
The plot soon thickens. The Emperor John has
been imprisoned by his son Andronicus who
IS reigning in his stead. and in the course Of
events Arethusa has come TO have grounds of her
for hating the usurper. Apparently pow
erless slave, she nevertheless finds opportunity
in Zeno's house to enter into plans Of rnomen-
tous importance to the political situation in Con-
Ftantinople. In q little while Zeno and his chat
tel are engaged almost side by side in plot
10 liberate the captive Emperor and execute
vengeance upon his unnatural son. Incidental
iy, Of course, they learn 10 love another.
In the working out of the dual plan he has
framed Mr. Crawford exercises a practised
hand. Though not precisely rich in really sig
nifcant incident, the book is varied. keeping
the reader in state OF mild wonderment as to
the next move in the game The characters,
too, have nearly all certain individuality.
Zeno is most picturesque figure, and the
quality belongs to his lovable old secre-
tary TO the mysterious astrooger who is deep
4n the political side OF the plot, and TO both
the slave dealer and his portentous wife. The
tale has atmosphere. It is thoroughly romantic
There is no doubt at all about Mr. Crawford's
having been in the mood.
We wish we could say that Mr. Hewlett had
been equally lucky. The brilliant qualities he
has shown when at his best, in a novel like
The Forest Lovers" in short stories like
his Little Novels Of Italy have caused each
new book Of his to be awaited with peculiar
curiosity. II is not in him completely to dis
appoint expectation. He has a note Of his own
and il is bound TO crop out. In "The Queens
QUAR- for example, there were superb pass
Rcter Of the book as a whole. SO, in THE
STOPPING Lady" there are bits Of vivid por-
traiture. jets OF emotion. episodes of swinging
literary craftsmanship, which 10 the reader who
has learned 10 SAVIOR Mr. Hewlitt's work are un-
deniably attractive. Yet in its length and breadth
this story OF girl in the England of 1909,
who IS born to the aristocracy but insists upon
losing her heart TO a butchers son, fails TO
carry conviction or TO give even the pleasure
that is communicated by artifce held we'll in
hand.
The truth is that on this occasion Mr.. Hew-
lett is too artificial by half If his romance fails
10 ring true It is because it is not a thing "of
the centre" but fabric wrought from the out
side. Fancy. and pretty fancy at that, is at
work here. There is no sign of the creative
imagination. We amused, a little by Her
mia Chambre's rebellion against the prejudices
= of her family. We are touched, little bv her
championship Of the Rights Of Man in general
and her loyalty to the butchers son in partic-
uiar- There is something engaging about her
slow surrender to this individuals extremely
romantic wooing But II is only in heetng mo-
hents that Mfr. Hewlett rouses our sympathy.
IN the long run he fails to persuade US to care
very much about what happens to his lovers
and this for the IA atal reason that they are ONLY
ieebly endowed with life. Hernia and her David
are. indeed. half smothered in the authors
purely literary mannerisms He writes not g
q man having affair Of flesh and blood 10
tel. but as an ingenious Meredithian absorbed
u the play OF words. II Is all prodigiouslv
cieVer, and here and there the native ability of
the novelist peeps through the verbal stuff, re-
mlnding Us OF his old self. Though this is
something for which 10 be grateful It is not
eFfpt.r~ nh.