New-York tribune., 1908-02-08
A Sheaf of NoUeIs EXCITING and
Sentimental.

-
TIE GREAT SECRET BY T. Phillips Open
helm Illustrated i2rno, pp 2sS Boston: Little
- III I.zTJT TO EDEN A Florida Romance. BY
Harrison Rhodes. 12no. pE @l2. Henry Holt & Co
TIE FAIR LAVIHIA. AND OTHERS BY Mary
wilkins Freeman Illustrated l2no. pp. S0l
Harper Bros
--,. rovel of adventure no longer needs TO be
-..l-es out in the cloak and sword and other
,.-snberDalia which once seemed indispensable
= a.. ,rore- coroposition. For some time the
o-.e-s have been laboring to prove that
,,,i-e Is possible in this modern world Of
&c and they have created a new type of
-ove1 In il young man of a sort you might
-,ee. any day in Broadway, stumbles upon op-
,,--,7n;+fes which the traditional knight IN
--,o- Of the Middle Ages might have enVled-
-rr 5a,asel in distress, to whose aid he MES Is
,,o-ne5 nv = Partisan dressnaker. and to make
Nv -e-sl seem even more incongruous. she ap-
-,aa-s in such an environment as is provided
- b,- = fasriona bic hotel. 1t is under the roof
cf an intensely modern hotel in London that
-te hero Of The Black Bag is launched upon
..-ise of adventures as exciting any that
~. aver experienced in the days Of Robin
-.s 1a fs a Young American whose career as
, -sin-er has been cut short by the news that
,,e fortune has been wipeG out by the san Fran
,,soo earthquake. The disaster only monlen-
-s-ilv stuns him. He engages passage home
ID rrsnares to begin life all over again. Mean
h;,e he goes TO the hotel dining room for the
,,e- luxurious meal he is likely to enjoy in
r,,r tine and there. Of course. he meets MS
.,-e She IS q lovely creature at whom he gazes
.., se much Interest as total stranger may
-n,i- himself to show The chances OF their
s-e- exchanging two words are apparently more
.,s, remote. But presently the man with whom
..e &c dining and whose character has already
s--,cl the hero as suspicious comes over to the
,-+e- and asks If ne will not see the young lady
,-,a in order that he. her father, may leave
-he building without her, and thereby escape
.he officers Of the law who are on his track!
We're eyer lovers brought together in more
amazing fashion?
The situation is. in fact. pTeposterous, but MT.
Vance uses in this book the ceverness that he
showed in The Brass Bowl and easily sue
oee5s il persuadiBg the reader that it Is worth
while 10 follow the winding Of his plot. AT the
,,-s.- the author threatens to spoil his story by
taking his style with more seriousness than II
deserves We wonder if he actually thought that
a sensational narrative such he has TO unfold
rould be written in a manner initiated from Mr.
r5en-y lanes But as he warns to his task he
.urgets his phrases and addresses himself TO the
delightful game Of nnystifcaUion. He plays this
rane very we'll. Obviously the bag from which
the book takes its title contains something
r-ecio11s and, Just as obviously, there are GER
tain actors in the drama who have unscrupu-
lous designs upon the treasure But TO know
these things is only TO have curiosity whetted
and ii is to AIr Nance's credit that his secret
defeats every surInise until the time arrives for
the usual happy denouement- 1t is creditaoie
piece Of popular. entertaining fiction
Nr. Pen1berton's hero, like Mr. Vances, is
81 the beginning swept UP into mystery which
he finds altogether battling. For him. however
tie transition from one condition to another
IS al first blush an affair of singular gooo
fortune He is youth dwelling in poverty
with no door promising TO open upon briSh'er
things Indeed. very soon after We make MS
acquaintance, he is dismissed from the post III
which he has been earning a few shiings
week and he faces squalid misery, in which the
sole beacon OF hope is the love OF Polish girl
herself submerged in hardship. Yet the father
Of this girl. while appearing 10 be wholly IL
effectual outside the modest province or a
mechanic. holds IN HIS hand prodigious power
He has q claim upon a millionaire IN Lonoon'
and 50 well can he back that claim up that ne
has only TO give the rica man his orders anu
they a-e obeyed. The poor working Slrl Is
sem 10 Warsaw to be educated and her lover,
the hero Of the book, is suddenly illteo up ou'
Of the Sums and established IN the millionalres
Naturally the author has thought OF leaving
his p-o.egs in peace. II is not long before MI.
-slhar Kennedy discovers that his luck has It's
dark side. To begin with, the daughter Of MS
fstron makes eyes at him and goes lar 10 sfia-
ing his LOYALTY 10 the comrade OF his seafly
davs Then as time goes on, the nllliloHaiI7
who has done so much for him turns OUT 10
be person with an excessively oepiofaDle past
and ghosts from this past cause fearful troupe
is
obfired to HE him 10 the doIninions OF the
czs- and there becomes involved in some de-
c55edr~ tragic transactions Mr. PeInnertoh
has meyer written less lfelike tale but ne
knows how 10 keep his plot going and' III q
COMMONPLACE way. is sufficiently arnusing-
In The Great Secret" We return once more 10
8 Lcneor hotel II the room to whlch lle heto'
81 Har6-oss Courage is assigned events
occrr which are absolutely inezpilcapie- "A lia'i
enter. who IS plainly on the verge Of collapse.
F,err.as are r,,rsuing him and be indicates that
they mean murder OF course Mr. Courage oe
friends hin, IN a thrilling scene. and equally o.
course ne looks when this is disposed or Tor q
fall ezp'a1ation Unfortunately the cause OF
ths fraczs he's disz-pearedi To make matters
-vorse-b,t much more interesting-lr Courage
nests IL the hotel beautiful Miss Van Hoy'
ard no, Only fslis in love with her put learns
that shs IS In some dark way associated WIN
the midnight raid which had nearly turned ms
room into 8 shambles. Modern young men 'i
novels 90 raost assuredly have much TO cohooh9
IN the behavior Of the raving beauties dropped
upon their hearts out OF the clouos' iiieS"
ladies' put them TO hair-raising tests get uieiii
into r7c-rit,,e situations and on being asked to
throw inst ? little light OF their relations with
clearly criminal gentlemen. poutingly protest
t.at Il they are 20 be loved they must be treated