Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-10-16

ume a tale of light entertainment that,
despite its slight proportions, carries some
wholesome truths. and may be Of service
socially
THE STOLEN sIGNET. BY Frederick
NJ. Smith. illustrated by F. r. Sha-
Ter. New York: Dumeld & Co.
Once Off the beaten track in the city Of
Tangter, the American and European
tourists encounter that strange spirit Of
e. the east which makes for tragedy. 1t
would hardly be thought that the mere
purchase of signet ring from q vender
In the open market place would cause its
new possessor to become an object of
murderous intentions, yet this is what
happened to a beautiful American girl
whose chaperon was momentarily mat
tentfve, and her experience involved her
escort, who of course was in love with
occurs within twenty-four hours. It is q
vivid II not necessarily convincing picture
OF intrigue in the north African city. The
illustrations are far below the STANDARD
of the story.
THE DANGER MARK. BY Robert w.
Chambers. author Of The Fighting
Chance" etc. Illustrated by A. B.
WenzeI. New York: D. Appleton &
Co.
Possibly there is good in close pessi-
mistic analysis of the mephitic conditions
surrounding certain phases Of modern So
ciety. 1t may be that Mr.. Chambers dis
courses upon this theme are of a moral
advantage. but unfortunately he cannot
resist the temptation to dwell lingering!y
upon his theme. In 1.-THE Danger Mark
he presents every conceivable aspect Of
social morbidity, creates half a dozen
climaxes and lures his reader on to the
finish chiefly by the promise of intro
ducing him to even more unpleasant pas
sages than those that have preceded Just
why 1t should require nearly five hundred
pages to tell the story of Geraldine Sea-
graves escape from the menace of strong
drink and evolve Duane Mallett into a
semblance OF man is mystery. II
MI. Chambers would consent to advance
the spark Of his narrative he would make
better hit with the majority of his
readers. The story deals with the careers
of the Seagrave twins. left orphans in
infancy and cared for until the age of
eight or ten by their grandfather. who
had peculiar views Of juvenile education
and on his death left them wards of
trust company with rigid injunctions
against indulgence in anything in the
way of youthful pleasures. 1t Is no won
der these children. SO reared, should
prove. upon merging into manhood and
wOmanhOod with an immense fortune at
their disposal. interesting social subjects,
especially when thrown into an environ
ment of deceit, pretense. immortality, in
ebriety. crime and Indulgence. There is
material enough in this story to make
three normal novels. There are Embossed
passions enough to supply a theatrical
stock company with plays for an entire
season. Mr.. Chambers brings his narra-
tive to its final climax by way. of a finan-
cial smash followed by divorce proceed
ings. suicide and murder. Altogether
The Danger Mark is not a book that
could be recommended for what is known
as pleasant reading
THE MAN IN THE CORNER, By Bar
oness Orczy. author of THE Scarlet
P1mpernel, etc. Illustrated by III.
NJ Brock New York: Dodd Neal
& Co.
It is said that the best way toswrite
detective story is to start with con-
ception OF a crime from the point of view
of the criminal. and then to reverse the
picture and allow the reader to see only
the embodiment of facts after the act
Possibly this Is the method of the
Baroness Orczy in putting up the series
of interesting tales that are now as
sembled under the title of THE Man in
the Corner This old gentleman. who
from his favorite seat in q little London
lunchroom, told his marvellous stories
of crime unravelment to an interested
young newspaper woman, had only one
point of view. that of a persistent critic
of the police. In none of the crimes in
which he had taken an interest were the
police ever by any chance correct in their
own theories or deductions. His PROPOSE
tions were always ingenious enough to
appeal to his nearer as plausible, IL not
assured Of truth. Whether it be a dia-
mond robbery. or murder, or a suicide,
the man In the corner appeared to be
the only one who saw clearly through
the maze of circumstances to the actu-
atty. The book. compiled of these tales,
is a diverting bit of light literature.
THE EAGLES NEST. BY Allan Nc
Aulay. New York: John Lane Com
pany.
OF the many books of Napoleonic fic-
tion there have been so few dealing with