New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1907-07-06

SPIRIT LAKE. BY Arthur Heming. Illustrated
by the author. i2mo PIP. X 1856 The Macmillan
Company
THE LONESOME TRAIL. BY John C. Ne:harat
Illustrated. Emo, PIP. SO4, The John Lane
Company -'''e
TO THE CREDIT OF THE SEA. By Lawrence
Mott illustrated Emo, PIP. 297 Harper e
Brothers.
BEATRIN OF CLARE. BY John Reed Scott
Illustrations in color by Clarence + ma nd
WOOD Emo. PIP. sos, Philadelphia: J. b In
pncCtt Company " 4-'4
THE SMITHS. a Comedy Without Plot. BY
her-e howard l2Ino. DIP. 3l9, Mcclure phil
lips & Co. M
1t was Inevitable that Mr. Davis should ,,.,t.o
book OF fiction around the automobile t.va~,-
popular author must nowadays write sucb =
book i ne IS 10 keep in the procession Not
every popular author, however. does his duty in
this regard with the high spirits and antiTr5o
that mark The Scarlet Car" The booi, is -
the fashion, but il does not for 2 moment s,1p
gest that il was written to be in the fashion.
on the contrary. IL goes with the vim only to
be expected OF an author when he is deliehrfnp
In his task. TWO threads of interest are main
tanned. IN The fiIst place there must he = sim,
alton for each Of the three stories in the volume
an episode illustrating the power of the autouo-
biie-in fiction. at any rate-to involve you in
fresh and astonishing experiences. And then. of
course. the love motive must be remembered In
the conventional automobile fiction that is pro
duced in such quantities to-day there is rarely
iui1ious adjustment Of the TWO sources Of ex-
element. Most authors make for ingenuity of
plot. and leave questions Of character 10 take
care OF themselves. Mr. Davis has struck
happy balance, and he is equally succeesfui in
arranging the adventures he relates and pre-
senting a pair Of sympathetic lovers. The book
is brief, well framed in every way a con-
trbution to the fiction OF the summer.
Stories of life among the Indians wake GER
tain uneasiness in the seasoned reviewer. He
mas read many OF them. and he has been
bored by the long winded excursions into folk
lore. and the hideous dialect. by which most Of
them are disfgured. But now and then his
doubts speedily set at rest. and he follows
with genuine concern the performances Of i
new fighter trapper. Spirit Lake offers
Of these pleasant surprises. Mr.. EeminS
uses il is true. material of a sort which has
been used before bringing into his pages the
strange beliefs Of the Indian. his woodcraft, and
his eniEmaIical character. But he strikes a
new note by dint of embodying these things in
G kind Of narrative, setting forth the incidents
Of hunting trip made by one Standing Wolf.
When the book opens the daughter Of this Cana
dian Indian is i'll, and the conjurer is making
prodigious efforts TO cure her. Incidentally, he
points that if Standing Wolf has any respect
for the powers Of the spirit world he Will re-
frain from making his usual trip after furs in
his own hunting grounds. II he goes 70 Spirit
Lake he will unquestionably meet the Spirit
Wolf and promptly be torn to pieces. For once
Indian rises above superstition. Standing
Wolf shrewdly suspects that the conjurer has
designs Of his upon the hunting grounds IN
question. and when he defantly visits them
with his whole family on slaughter bent, he
discovers the correctness Of his surmise- We
need hardly note that complications ensue. Mr.. |
Heming handles them adroitly. Re writes at !
once as q lover Of sport and Of the forest, and !
as a student Of Indian human nature. Though |
many Of his incidents might stand by themselves |
as detached pages from the life Of a hunter, |
they are bound together by the individuality of |
Standing Wolf We must quote. by the way, /
little episode which might have been writ |
ten with an eve 10 the recent controversy over !
the ways Of wild animals and their historians. !
II runs as follows:
As they sHowshoed along Standing WOLF tried |
10 impress unon the boys the immense importance
Of being ohservart:
ny sons il You are 70 become great hunters, |
sou must BE- forever studying your surroundings |
IN order that you may understand every sign of |
nature Be ohservant, and you will become wise. |
Now, listen once I set a trap for a wolverine |
that had ca-red much trouble. Three days /
later the brute caught by the hind leg in my
trap Though IT was held securely, It tried many |
ways 70 gain its freedom-at first endeavorng TO |
break the chain, then TO enaw the pole in two and
finally % urscreW the nuts from the trap. WhAe |
II was thus engaged, three wolves came along |
The wolverine, IL terror, worked itself down low
in the and close against the pole 70 which |
the trap fastened; and then. as the wolves |
drew near. pretended 10 be dead. on seeing the !
wolverine the wolves Crced three times round |
The trap with The utmost caution. Then they |
sguatted upon their launches in the snow and |
drawer they circled round again. and drew nearer
TO The wolverine, and waited. The wolverine never
moved Al last the leader of the wolves, con !
WINGED that the captive was dead. rushed forward |
and planted lis fore feet its back and vas |
about 20 sink his fangs into the expected feast
when, Ike lightning. it turned upon its back,
eiuiehed the wolf with its powerful fore legs, bit
INTO the throat Of its enemy, and at the same /
tine ripped open the VOLTS belly with the claws /
q It's hind feet The other wolves, seeing their
leader killed, away"
Did you see the fght?" asked At-tick.
= WV nl-
loving day" replied Standing Wolf
. Then how do you know what happened?' ques-
tened the boy.
Because" answered Standing Wolf. the story
o. the whole affair was written upon the animals. ]
me trap, The pole, and the snow. What further (
proof could you want?"
Mr.. Neihardt likewise has much to do with
indians in his collection Of short stories and
with aspects Of wild nature. The first thing in
MS book, The Alien" is another Of those in
Vulnerable tales written hint At the possibility
OF better understanding between man and
an animal than of find easily conceiv-
anle- The hero is horsethief in full flight from
the band resolved upon his hanging. He finds
refuge IN the cavern Of she wolf, and after
beating the brute into subsection, lives with 1t
on terms OF something like mutual affection
Perhaps the author realized, as he went on with
Ms work, that he was putting a pretty severe
strain upon the readers cTedulity. At all events
he pulls himself up sharply, and by giving a
tragic twist 10 his climax lends plausibility TO
What might otherwise have proved quite un- +
convincing yarn. Even so, like Mr.. Nehardt
better in those stories in which he moves on
firm ground and paints credible human beings
under probable circumstance stories %
"The Scars" The Art of Hate or The Re
volt Of a sheer" We wonder what causes nine
out Of ten Of the writer's who bring out books Of
short stories TO put their least satisfactory work
IN the foreground. THE Alien" gives little idea
o. the good qualities dominating practically
N