The San Francisco call., 1909-07-04
partners Three"

BY Victor Mapes, author OF The Undercu--
rent" etc, Published by Frederick A. Stokes
4 CO., New York Price 1928
The Partners" are Doctor Joyce.
Tony and Pie. What they and the other
characters are like you may partly
guess from the following descriptions
Or. jeremiah Joyce-Whose laugh is
monster gun of the artillery of good
nature that drives off the devils of
despair. He is the inventor of the
steam pipe, roller skate boat. the re-
generated shoe leather process and
other boons to humanity.
Tony-Antoinette Bonnet, Clair An
toinette Amidee de la Brize. Young,
pretty, with black hair, full of hidden
purples. and blue black eyes with long
black lashes. She does not wear puffs
In her hair, and likes making bread for
the doctor.
Fitzpatrick Isaac Ennis, also known
as "S43." A small person with red hair,
bristling like a bottle cleaner. big
dreamy Jewish eyes and pale. freckled
Irish face. lie talks French. The re-
suit Is American.
Mrs. Jowls-A reversion to the hen
type. She leaves eggs at the doctors $
door, cackies incessantly about nothing
and Invariably runs across the road
when anything is coming.
chauncey and Florence de Witt
w no make you lNinh Oh IuI GOATS,
cocktails and gasoline.
Madame La Comtesse-The real ar
ticle," but not the kind of comtesse
you are sure to expect
Most of that informa tion we get from
the paper envelope of the book, and
whether written by author or pub
Usher it entices us inside the cover.
The story is interesting throughout,
but the characters do not quite live
up TO their glowing descriptions. We
must confess that ii is strongly remi-
niscent of the Beloved Vagabond,"
especially in the earlier chapters, but
quite charming. for who would not
hear of the beloved vagabond again?
The tale Is told by Pie and is sup
posed to have been written in cell at
Sing Sing. 1t is history of the lives of
the three and. of course. tells how Pie
landed in prison.
Doctor Joyce is a lonely and wander
ing inventor. and he draws into his life
the little Swiss orphan Tony, and cares
for her and educates her as his own.
Pie is also a member of this curious
family. having been taken from a re-
form school where he was placed when
gang of counterfeiters with whom
he lived deserted him for Jail.
The boy and girl grow up, and the
girl and her guardian suddenly become
other. Suddenly IL is discovered that
she is great heiress--a long lost
relative In France having died and dis
closed It, and poor Tony is obliged to
go to France.
While she is gone Doctor Joyce and
Pie fall upon very nard times and Pie
proves his love and devotion to the
doctor by turning eounterfeiter in order
to keep the wolf from the door. That
seems the only inconsistency in the
book, for the boy had shown no crimi-
nal instincts and the counterfeiters
with whom he associated as a child
were not blood relations.
He is caught and sent to Sing Sing.
and from there writes this tale. Tony
comes back from France, for all the
money in the world could not shake
her loyalty 10 Doctor Joyce. 1t is un-
comfortable leaving Pie in jail, but he
will be out soon, and Doctor Joyce and
Tony have named him for the god
father of their son. thus proving their
appreciation of mis- nobility of
character.
Victor Mapes is a New York~author
and playwright who in Partners
Three" offers his first long story. Mr..
Mapes, who is a nephew of the late
Mary Mape~ Dodge. has been a dramatic
critic and theatrical director. and
some years ago issued "Duse and the
French" a critical study. He was at
one time director of the New theater
in this city OF his many plays. pro-
duced in Paris, New York and Chicago.
"a Flower of Yeddo." Caesars Re-
turn" Captain Darlington" and "The
Undercurrent" are among the best
known.