New-York tribune., 1908-03-07
RECENT FICTION.
Stories Fantastic. AdUcnturOus and
.Scntim entail.

THE FOOTPRINT. AND OTHER STORIES 81 Ey
aiouverneur Morris. 1Zmo. PIP 3$6- Charles
ScrLbner's Sons.
FOR JACIN7'A. BY Harold RndlosS LIMO Pp
S23 Frederick a. Stokes Company.
ppoE17S OFF. Ry Mrs Baillie Reynolds 121no,
pp. 400 Breutanos-
In his ,7ew volume Of short stores MI. "o'-
,,erneur Morris exhibits a talent Nhlch j. d.
readv anausingly effective and promises 10 o7
ez-en more productive of good results III 'iS
future He treats of fantastic ana GRIM t"F"s7
.Irays difficult because they require a very
6e,;cata touch and if he is sometimes d H''io
- ,.,,daa or uncertain he is also. on occa-
;o,, dalishtf,llIy sure Of his ground Inc IrSI
tic in the book, from which the latter taxes
a., .;.ta is so shrewdly enveloped in the rlght
..,o,r,e,a that the reader scarcely notices the
-, -,,+ ,,non his creduiity. All that matters
:: 4b. freezing horror of the conflict III Whicl
= arceI of adventures become inTolVed Nhei
,bay set out in quest of treasure WHICH, 10 ~
orio,-ed must be stolen. The contrast between
.,e mysterious power Of those opIDoSeo 10 '''p
and the almost matter-of-fact zone given L" t'e
narrative is by itself successful IN touch.fS
the imagination
Al, Norris is uneven. His next story, Para
a. psrcb shows no ingenuity whatever in
tho handling of that ancient motive, woman
disturbing the happiness of two men; but III
..l,.o;r England " which Immediately follows
.,,a o,,bor RECEIVERS himself and develops an
odd situation with capital humor. me 1Ne'"-
,ioo, is inst good enough TO inspire d Wish that
IL were better. In this. and in inc Explorers
and .,Tle Best Man" Mr- Morris gives the I'M
,,reesorl of tragedy fairly well invented "i'
eor,eboyr sr,ht1v robbed Of its true Inl9reSS!NH-
nass bv png on Of the agony. II iS h"l
,,recisely a matter Of execution The fdui|
ra.,,,,s ra+her that Of an uudisciplined imagina-
yoyloo fo.i
sala He gives US. in short. skiful design. but
.. a.r,s hung in rnidair, instead Of being based
-, ,,pov-ledge of life and human nature. How
e,-ar Z, is to be hoped that Mr.. Morris VIII
co o., i'm this grisly vein of his. he does so well
with II now. His humorous stories have gooh
stuff in them. THE Slowing Away of Mr.. Bill
ralIad" and a Carolina Nights Dream are
bo,b excellent Satire and sentiment he would
better avoid if one may judge from The Croco-
die" and THE Little Heiress,' the latter
narticularIy jejune affair But 1T is the broad
character of the book on which we would chiefly
,sy stress This points to a genuine gift.
The hero Of For Jacinta' is one of those
,,oung men, familiar in fiction, who fall in
,ove only to sigh in secret from conviction tiiat
,te,, are. If not unworthy. handicapped by
.ortrne as TO make the most deprecating
.dyapces toward courtshp merely imper-
,;nent. Fortunately for Mr.. Austin. supercarso
:, 2 ,naiooat plying among the canary ISL
o,as Miss Jacinta Brown is Just the girl to see
,h-oueh the most reserved adorer. and although
,,ban the book opens the situation seems quite
ho,eIess for our young man, we are persuaded
.to, all will come out We'll at the emo. IN the
interval Of course, something must De cone
1,hs lover must be put on his mettie ana taugh'
to lift himself out OF his mooc OF aoquieScei'c7
:. dull destiny \ friend turns up man
'i ., do ANYTHING for the sake OF the
-, no loves and this energetic individual
- eor the making of "A fortune presently
- q. inctude the bashful Austin lie dt-
,.,,o, a ;,ackbrcsking enterprise which IL