New-York tribune., 1909-04-24
Norels of Life in the East. an Eng
land and in America.

THE FAsHLoNABIE r.,5 ARyENTgEEfP 5;(5I,R, PhfPE PF
JOSHUA CRAIG By paV19 ~ G[nsi5 anniefon g. Co5
TIE MAN IN LOWER TEN By Mar TORE otP-, -
Rinehart With illustrations ny yzoIis, taoaa,T The
qeF PeFbs MerTiil Company
r,pr,srxA Rv John Ayscoush 12mo, PIP 90
THREE GIRLS AND 4 HERMIT. BY DoIgCe gh
Cenyers Emo. pp S2S II r. Du''o" 0'
-,ba a,,tbor Of Dragons Blood" has done
clever thing He has told good story. so eooo
ths. the reader even gets a little greatness
over II. and at the game time he has made as
much Of his local color as might nave peei
-ns6A ry the writer OF q book Of travel his
,oane ia laid in China and Il fairly palpltates
NTH ztrnosphere Not IN a long time have We
ocnoA across q bit OF fiction in which an ehoI'o
BACKGROUND has been handled ct once so nI-
ot.ruEiveiy and with effective touch MI
Fideout makes you realize his Chinese ooaSt
tor-7 and its inhabitants in a very natural and
vivid manner We dare sag L is because ne
has sought. not pcturesqueness for its own
sake but Just the everyday human sloe OF
thinss. His Cinnamon seem genuine TO the
core They act not like figures in a melodrama-
hut like creatures Of flesh and blood Likewise
the Western folk in the book inspire compete
confidence for al that in his Characterization
of them Mr Rideout wakes suspicion OF MS
having taken a leaf from Mr.. kiplings book
At aH events II he has been Influenced by that
TCTnanceT ne mas not suIltTeu dHS ioHS u -''0
wholesome instinct for actual men and women
His d.ction may SAVIOR OF skilful emulation Of
brilliant model His insight IS all his own
THE Young German whom he carries into the
East to fall in love. 10 fall out of II, and TO
make a man of himself. is almost touchlngiE
Iifelike and all the other white men presently
involved in tragic little drama are portrayed
with the same sympathy But perhaps the pest
achievement in this book is the young wife OF
hing e1z- q her
yet persistently occupies position very near
she centre Of the stage. She is an authentic
type accurately analyzed- Feeble though she
IS her portrait alone would make this book
worth reading
There is = woman not unlike her in Mrs.
Frankaus new novel the mother of the young
fellow who gives the book its title. Nanessa
Kendall the wife If business man older than
herself is an incarnation OF selffshness. She
adores her son. but otherwise TOO busy oc-
cupied in the writing Of novels t. develop the
smallest conception of her husbands good quail
fties or of her duty him He. poor man,
slaves at his office that she may enjoy luxury
and their boy may receive the finest education
It is queer household Vanessa. beautiful and
clever is really an exasperating and even re
peiient figure David Kendall is pathetic but !
not on other grounds particularly interesting
Sebastian, the link holding these two together /
is as true and attractive an individual as has |
ever walked through this novelist's pages He 1
Is & Ikea bic boy and while. in his young man /
hood he develops traits that are far from love I
able, he holds the reader because there is i'll /
him so much that seems almost poignantly sig !
riFcsnt Of our modern life We follow the sue |
cessive stages of his career with keen concern, |
watching with increasing curiosity the in |
terplav Of strength and weakness in his nature |
Mrs Frankau admirably exhibits the complexity |
Of her young hero's character. she realizes him |
on the printed page. There are personages and |
episodes in the book which leave q rather bad |
taste in the mouth But they are well within |
the picture. Mrs. Franksu's realism may be, |
occasionally. unpleasant. but it is well founded.
II is the quality Of truth in Sebastian" that
makes il powerful and arresting narrative.
OF the truth in The Fashionable Adventures
Of Joshua Craig it is possible TO speak with |
cordial appreciation, but not without re-
serve Mr Phillips uses a heavily loaded brush
snd sweeps about with it in decidedly robust |
fashion. His hero is young man Of humble
origin. who comes from the West to win his way
IN Washington as a lawyer. We are to suppose |
that he is a man OF sterling character, am |
bilious, energetic. and sturdy in all his tastes
that he cannot bear to adapt himself TO the |
smooth ways of the city in which his fortune is /
TO be made. He viii not bow 10 custom, wear |
ing well cut clothes and using polite modes OF |
address He viii play the rough diamond 10 !
his hearts content. and compel urbane 1
persons do he wishes. Incidentally he Will !
lecture them on the frivolity insncerity and |
general speciousness Of their lives. The charac-
ter is credible and there is in fact something
.ngratisting about il Mr.. Phillips got hold of +,
g good idea when he thought OF contrasting |
homespun and broadcloth and of demonstrating /
that the former may easily he victorious. He |
might however. have made Joshua Craig a little |
lass crude and violent without sacrificing any /
thing essential TO his point, Indeed. he would /
have increased the force Of his book and made il |
more appealing. as well as more artistic by !
keeping the harbarfc Joshua's -eccentricities |
somewhat within bounds. We are willing to be /
lieve that ruthless may sweep fastidi- /
woman of her feet by sheer power Of Will /
We cannot quite believe that a courtship like !
Joshua Craig's could be endured by a civilized /
woman And yet. We repeat Joshua Is a beguil- :
ing creature. Despite his exsggerations he /
somehow rings true and take friendly in /
terest in his adventures.
The Man in Lower Ten is a diverting tale
o. mystery. The supposittious narrator is a .
lawyer who is started in the first chapter on a /
journey provoked by q criminal case. Some pa
pers indispensable TO the successful prosecution /
of that case in his possession when he |
takes the train from Pittsburg to return to /
Washington. Before lie gets there these papers !
have been stolen man in the sleeping car has |
been murdered the lawyer has fallen under
suspicion ana the train has been wrecked Also
our sorely frisd friend hitherto a bachelor pre-
sumabT beyond all chance Of change has met
the woman he is destined 10 love. Nat
EraIiy. she. zoo. is entangled in the grisy prob
lem CT The Man in Lower Ten" Mrs Rine-
hart keeps the solution Of tina; problem TO her /
self NTH all the adroitness that one could ask
in 2 detective story The reader is tsn+alfzed |