The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-06-07

MT. Rhodes writes very Well, indeed. lie
 collaborated once with Anthony Hope.
 'The Adventures of Charles Edward
 will kill a lot of time and some trouble.
 Twin Starrs, by J. Breckenridge Ellis,
 (Mayhew Publishing compony)
 MT. Ellis succeeds splendidly in his studies of country people. His book.
 Twin Starrs," with scenes in Ken
 tuckyville, Missouri, is one of the
 brightest, funniest, and at times sad,
 books, written in a good long while.
 The Twin Stars" are, of course two lovely girls. Viola Starr and her
 sister, Elizabeth. Viola full of fun,
 Elizabeth quiet and most demure. Upon
 the scene comes MT. Buckney, one "of the Buckneys of Chicago" hunting for
 family tree information. Boarding with
 the aunt of the Starr twins is a Buck
 ney, who has only lucid intervals
 when not lucid, he Is human steam engine" MT. Buckney of Chicago goes
 to Kentuckyville to secure from the halfway lucid Buckney some lost data
 as to the Virginia branch of the Buck
 ney family from which the half f-craz
 man is descended. Buckney of Chicago is the last man on earth, one would
 think, to fall in love with Viola-bu. of course, he does. The book then is filled with the happenings of Buckney and the Starr twins, while the former Is waiting on the human steam en gine' to regain his temporary balance. Viola engages herself to marry the
 rich Buckney of Chicago, but she doesn't in the end of the book. In the end true love prevails-it sometimes does--in books. These two Twin Stars were daugh ters of an actress and their
 aunt was worried all of the time for fear the actress "taint" would come
 out and exhibit itself, especially in Viola, 1t did all right and kept the poor aunt very busy and unhappy. But the book turns out all right. It Is very funny. MT. Ellis makes his people live in the readers eye. A great feat thatl
 In the Dead of Night, by J. T. Mcintyre, c. P. Lippincott company.)
 Steele Kenyon" a young American
 adventure who had lived in all kinds | of places, fought in revolutions in South
 America, had done all kinds of things
 except make a financial success out of his life, landed in New York one night
 with $10 in his pocket. He had just arrived from South America, from which continent he came fireman
 on a ship working his passage. With this last remaining $10 he proceeded to dine well-possibly for the last time In
 full dress and over a huge dinner Ken yon communed with himself over his fate-as most heroes in books do at
 the beginning of the story when he and the readers know that lots of things were yet to come-else why the book?
 After dining he walked up the Great White Way" still communing with him. self. a foi in iC
 muning with hemselves-that book heroes have. It doesn't matter in life when heroes commune" for one can get up and walk away from them | in books its different. When Kenyon, got as far as near the Waldrof, he ran into the beginning of adventures | which require 29S pages to tell about A cab stopped near Kenyon, in which was a lovely girl. She told the sur- prised young fellow to get in-which of course he did--what man wouldn't? Nothing unusual about that-on the | contrary. Well--it seems that there was a rich old man in New York with two adopted daughters, who was about to die. This old man was the head partner in large importing house. His son was student-something of recluse. The partners in the importing house. wished to carry on underhand dealings the old dying man desired to prevent this and could have done so; but he
 was dying now, so In a most peculiar thrilling way Kenyon was brought into this arrangement unknown to himself. From the time Kenyon placed himself in the cab alongside the lovely girl more things happen in this book, all legitimately, all clean, too-than one could possibly imagine. Kenyon is the god in the machine" Just when things seem to be falling about the lovely heroine's head-there was Kenyon Johnny on the spot" Kenyon could not be lost at all. He was always there ready and willing to get busy saving people-particularly the lovely girl. 1t is impossible to give even anything, like an idea of the plot of this story. The book possesses sufficient movement and thrilling incident to fit out 10 or 15 ordinary stories of mystery and ad
 venture. One thing about it-it vii; keep the reader literally on the jump great many of us, like that kind of book; and one who does, would en- thuse over "In the Dead of Night" Why! the title almost thrills!
 The Gates That Shall Not Prevail. by
 Herbert M. Burlington. (John Lane Col
 Paul Cervain" did not know who his father and mother were and had been sent by an unknown benefactor to the