Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-11-06

the well. and the soap-box babies show
up, and Miss Selma Lou tells about her
Mr.. Alan who is painting wonderful
pictures in her barn, why. the reader
knows, without telling, that everything is
surprise, however, the rich old father. no
longer irate, bundles Miss Selma Lou
and the babies in the big automobile and
they spin on and on. until at last they
slow up at the top Of a far hill with a
sweep OF river below. And dear Miss
Selma Lou says: Il have set on the gro
Gerry steps and watched the top of this
hill in winter and In summer sunup and
shutdown. in storm and clearing. and all
the time a-wondering what was here on
the other side that 1 never expected to
see in this life. I am glad L always laid
il out in my mind as beautiful as could.
fer 1 woulder been ashamed il had gone
and made little Of 1t to myself just be-
cause hadn't seen it. and maybe never
would. Things always measure UP to
what you expect"
And this wholesome philosophy Is only
one OF the traits that make such a low
able personality of Miss Selma Lou.
ARSENE LUPIN. BY Edgar Jepson
and Maurice Leblanc. From the
Play by Maurice Leblanc and Fran
els de Croisset. Illustrated by II.
Richard Boehm. New York: Double
day. Page & Co. Washington: Wood
ward & Lothrop.
The novelization Of a play is never a
fully satisfactory literary performance.
In this case Mr.. Jepson has had the as
sistance of one OF the joint authors of
the drama which has had pronounced
vogue both in this country and abroad.
But even with such assistance the work
is palpably a translation OF the theme
from the dramatic to the story form and
is narrowly limited in consequence. II
might have been better to reprint the play
In its own text than to reproduce the
dialogue and to describe the action. The
story deals with the exceptional clever
ness Of q French thief who is strongly
suggestive Of "Rafiies." quite lately Of
fered to the American play-going public.
Lupin is an engaging scoundrel with an
amazing facility for disguise and ca
pacity for squeezing the last chance out
of an adverse situation.
THE GLIMPSE, an Adventure of the
The Old Wives Tale" New York
d. Appleton & Co.
Mr. Bennett has undertaken a daring
thing In this story of the emotions. The
glimpse" to which the title refers Is of
the hereafter, as obtained by Morrice
Loring, the narrator. during the period
when his life was supposed to be extinct
after an attack of heart disease. In the
course of several chapters the sensa-
tions Of those who have newly died are
set forth with an extraordinary force OF
plausibility. The detachment of spirit
from body is wildly described, followed
by a series OF experiences upon some spir-
itual plane beyond this Of mundane life.
Naturally the story would end with the
death. but Mr.. Bennett has no intention
to close his work SO soone He brings the
~:~sA
to find that the wife with whom he has
quarreled just prior to his seizure has
taken poison in her remorse and grief
But II lie dimcult to maintain an interest
beyond this point The issues are purely
social and OF a pallid importance to the
reader after the intensity Of those pas
sages which deal with the souls flight
into the unknown.
THROUGH THE WALL. BY Cleveland
MOffett, author of The Battle" etc.
New York: d. Appleton & Co.
Mr.. MofYett dedicates his volume in part
to his delightful Paris home. where this
note to convince the reader that the au-
thor at least conceived his thrilling mar
rative In the French atmosphere. The
able fidelity with which II reproduces the
French love Of the dramatic in the I'M
ravelment OF crime mysteries. A Partisan
detective going straight through circum-
stances and theory to the probable cause
would be indeed OF the old school of
which Gibelin speaks at times with pride
But Paul Coquenil is a sublimation of the
French crime tracer. To him each case
is career, each mystery a life problem.
He throws himself into the unraveIment
of the Ansonia murder with an abandon
heroic in it's unselfishness This is no or
binary crime, as he feels instinctively at
the. outset. The shot fired through the
wall of the private room in the Ansonia
The man whose finger pulled the trigger
that snuffed out human life held in his
grasp the power which affected police,
judges. commissaries and even prime min
listers. 1t is no wonder then that Coquenil
was banned at every turn, Inundated and
thwarted i'm his search until at the su-
preme climax he came into court. where
the wrong man was being condemned for
the crime, to point an accusing finger at
the real criminal, then sitting. by dra-
matte chance upon the bench with the
presiding judges.
Any reader who finds a dull page I'm this
intensely active story should forever es-
chew reading detective fiction, for II Mr..
Moffett has not pleased with his Offering
It is impossible ever to arouse human in
terest In this form Of story telling.
THE ARABIAN NIGHTS; Their Best
known Iales. Editeo by Kate DOUG
las Wiggfn and Nora a. Smith. T.
Illustrated by Maxfield Parrish. New
York: Charles Scribner's Sons.
combination Of Arabian Nights and
Maxfield Parrish is close to the ideal Of
the Juvenile book. 1t is doubtful whether
a happier choice as illustrator could have
been made than this master OF drafts
manship and color. The co-editors have
selected eleven stories revising the text
to render them OF keen interest to the