New-York tribune., 1908-04-11
Literary Wese,s and Crfffc;c,,

''"e girl girl of parts, an unse6sb. trne
hearted high minded girl. who pervades the
""oN IN 2 refreshing energy and sweetness
,''uch iess hkeable girl. the daughter of the en-
'eA%ler' brings into the story a suggestion nj
e'y "hlch VIII commend itself to a theoriz-
iis redder. Theories apart one who takes I'm
lhe book will certainly finish it. unwilling to
ieaNe IN doubt the conclusion of Ordwav's strur-
sieS' the end of the heroines romance.
no" much pleasure has the American reader
owed 10 that most accomplished translator from
'he German. Mrs. Wister! The sometimes soft
sentlinentallty OF writer's like E Marlitt seemed
10 turn under her clever pen to real sentiment
fler style has remained, from the beginning
sliilpie' tasteful, agreeable. She has not been
so lucky as to come upon great fiction but a
iohs hst or pleasant books stories that invited
one 10 read to the last page, stories whose at
iiiosphere was healthy and whose characters
were realistic, she has put to her credit Her
new translation the last, she declares she shall
ever complete. she inscribes to the children and
grandchidren of those who welcomed the first
puphsheo many years ago. THE Lonely House"
IS story Of love and murder in the Ukraine
purportfng to be told by an old entomologist
Inc discovery of the true murderer is slowly
worked out in skilful way, and there is an
engaging ingenuity in the rescue Of the hero
from an apparently hopeless situation.
Anthony Hope is one of those craftsmen who
can always be depended upon to turn out a
perfectly satisfactory piece of work. 1t is true
that there is rarely thrill of anything like
elemental passion in his fiction. His people are
TOO well dressed, too we'll behaved, for that He
has not a soaring imagination. One does not
think Of him as taking life very seriously as
laying violent hands upon the human heart.
But his very limitations help to make his work
charming. He moves the more dantily through
his little comedies because he has accustomed
himself to a measured and graceful gait. He
is at home among personages whose advent
ures may be romantic, but whose souls are
not cast in precisely heroic mould The spirit
OF the drawing room is his-a friendly witty
superficial and yet, for all that quite genuine
and Hkeable spirit. 1t fills his latest book Of
short stories book cheerfully compact Of
light humor. sweet sentiment. and all the things
that go 10 make a vivacious but we'll ordered
social movement. There are tales in the book,
like 'Slim-F Fingered Jim or The Open Door"
in which the author essays TO strike graver
note. He succeeds-after a fashion. But it is
when he is in more trihing vein, as in Mrs
Thistleton's Princess" or The Necessary Re
sources that he is most himself and most
amusing 1t is companionable book for an
idle hour
The Man Who Was Thursday IS a curious
performance. 1t is obvious that the author
means well. Mr.. Chesterton has We gather
some hopes for the human race. and he strives
TO indicate them in this queer mixture of farce
and philosophy. His earlier pages promise di-
version They reveal meeting OF anarchists
at which member of the police force finds
himself in a fantastic situation, and for a time,
as the tale proceeds, we fondly anticipate pict-
uresque developments They arrive. but they
all intertwined with some queer allegoriCal
purpose which the author has in mind. 1t is
as We have said, fine purpose, but to pursue
this is 70 be enveloped in fog and overcome
by great Weariness If Mr. Chesterton really
has a gospel TO preach he should make it
little clearer. The form he has adopted In
The Man Who Was Thursday" is not for his
prentice hand.