Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-06-27


Lothrop.
n PREFACE to novel is doubt
~ full proposition The reader Is
"a likely TO skip it for lack of i'm
~ mediate interest until he mas
completed the work and then he
may read it to satisfy his curiosity. Thus
it becomes an epiogue instead Of pref
ace Mr. Galsworthy's preface is in a way
the best part of his story and might better
have been written as supplementary
chapter He treats the British traditions
and insular cemplacency with an unspar-
ing hand. Yet it is questionable whether
he scores As a propagandist. In both Fer
rand. the frankly confessed social tramp.
and in Shelton. the new adventurer in the
field Of original thinking. the author
shows the man of protest in unpleasant
lines Ferrand is obviously sponger and
mischief maker. Shelton Is too much IN
love with Antonio to be really quite sane
She is a snob and he at times very much
of fool. Still they stand for the types
respectively of British satisfaction
and British distrust between which con-
fict is rising as inevitably as the day ana
as bitter the most savage warfare
DIANA OF DOBSON'S. BY Cecily Ham
iIton New York: The Century Com
pany.
If Diana Massingberd had been nor
NAL person she would. upon receiving
legacy Of $500. have made her position
fairly secure by investing 1t. This would
have given her, of course, only measer
income, but even such an income would
have been helpful to London shop glri;
Being entirely abnormal In ner socidi
makeup Diana decides to spend all her
legacy upon one grand spree on the conu-
nent. beginning with series OF expensive
purchases in Paris which enaDie ner 70
mass at an Alpine resort as a lady OF
fashion and social position. Her sent-
mental complications follow in natural Sc
duence. She is a delightfully."- irresponsloe
Young person. just as the gentleman upon
whom her affections finally center Is an
altogether preposterous product OF the
British social system, yet with certain
possibility of likeableness which the au-
thor develops into real manllneSs as the
result of an impetuous pledge on ms part
10 cut loose from his dependent position
and strike the worlds door with his own
fist The story closes on the Thames en-
.bankment with Diana and her young man
facing the world hand in hand
A LITTLE LAND AND \ LIVING. BY
Bolton Hall author IF Three Acres
and Liberty" With a letter as an
introduction by William Borsool.
New York: The Arcadia Press.
The cry back to the land has been
sounding through this country for several
wears in more and more insistent tones.
and the result is a systematic movement
on the part of publicists and philanthro-
pists and practical students of ocial prob
lens to persuade the poorer classes to
leave the city and attach themselves TO
the soil in conditions which make ior
their independence from wage-earning
slavery Mr.. Hall has written already
an eloquent argument in favor Of this
migration from town entitled Three
Acres and Liberty" which attracted VIDE
attention and undoubtedly did much
good 1t ELECTED long letter I'm MT
William Borsodi, himself an investigator
along these lines Of social read1ustment.
Mr. Hall has wisely made Mr.. Borsod1
letter his first chapter in this new pres
entation of the subject. res.ating the
argument for the rural movement In the
strongest possible terms. In the book IN
chief Mr.. Hall gives numerous pract1cal
suggestions calculated to make smooth
the way Of the amateur agriculturist.
whether he is located within the close
range Of the city or at considerable dis
lance His proposition is that every man
should at least supply his own table. even
though he may not go in for the raising
and marketing Of garden crop as busi-
ness.
THE CHAPERON. BY c. N. and A: M:
Williamson. illustrations by Karl
Anderson New York: The Mcclure
Company: Washington: Woodward
& LothIop.
Mr. and Mrs. Williamson's novels are
trebly attractive They stimulate his
toric interest. they act guide books
and they are finally delightful works or
fiction. 1t is difficult to determine just
where the one interest ends and the other
begins so artistically are the elements
interviewer. The ChaperOn'' deals with
the experiences of two young Lngllsh
girls one of whom has been bequeathed a
motor boat and the other some money
to
a trip through the canals of Holland. and
with delightful inexperience set forth for
the low countries without the slightest
idea of how. where or wherefore-in fact.
any of the conditions pertaining to such
an enterprise. They find the boat has
been surreptitiously leased to an Ameri-
can artist of rising fame. and out of the
complication thus encountered comes a
boat party composed of the precise ele-
ments that the Williamsons love to as
senble in a romance-cOmpellin- combi-
nation. The story is somewhat married
by the method of narration. 1t is difficult
for even the most gifted author TO shift
from one to another of four points OF
view and to tell story consecutively and
smoothly with convincing force from
them IN succession. An impersonal pres
entation of the theme would rave been
more attractive than telling of the
words of Nell Van Buren,. Rudolph Bre-
derode Philis Rivers and Ronald Lester
Starr. The chaperon herself. that lady
of mystery hired for the occasion by Mr..
Starr. might have told the story in her
own language more convincingly. How
ever. Of the four the narration of Mr..
Brederode is the most satisfactory. The
story is altogether delightful in its sug-
gestion of the history of Holland and 1t
is descriptive Of places of interest in that
picturesque country. 1t should ~esult in
a considerable increase Of tourist immi-
grafton.
CLEAN O. DAWN. BY Arthur Goodrich.
author of The Balance of Power"
Illustrated by D. c. Hutchinson. New
York: d. Appleton & Co.
Cnforgiving Indian hatred works out in
this novel OF the woods 10 a tragic climax.
vet With delightfully."- romantic atmos-
phere that mollifies the reader who OBJ
tects TO scenes of viOlerce and prefers
pastorals. II is a story of desertion long
before. resulting in the aSSemblage OF
tragic forces at the lumber headquarters
OF the man of great success, but of un-
pleasant memories. The author. with a
certainty Of touch acquired only by the
closest observation Of the pine woods
no irSr al cl,av hri,,