New-York tribune., 1910-05-11
Some Recent Tales of Mystery
and Adventure.


THE u.LUsTRIoUs PRINCE BY. E.
Phillips oppenheim- With illustra{ions
by VIII Foster. l2rno, PIP. Vi. s2S bos-
ton: Little, Brown s. Co
koU1LEDGE RIDES ALONE. BY viii
Lexington Comfort. Frontispiece by
@Spfn aeiphia gsse Tbe J. a0 g. LPpinoott RB o Conn.,
peny-
THE TWISTED FOOT By Henry Milner
Rideout With ilustratiops sg pp BY & g; =,
Mif5iin Company.
GUENDA. BY Mabel Barnes s-Gruney
Frontispiece- Emo. pp- S6L The Baker
e. Taylor Company.
THE SCAR. A Novel OF the New souSa- IN
BY Warrington Dawson 12Ino, pp- Ssi
Boston: Small, Maynard & Co.
The author Of THE Illustrious Prince
Is nothing If not readable, in the light,
summers afternoon sense of that word
He IS an adept at entangling his per-
sonages in a piquant situation and keep
ing .he reader on tenterhooks as to the
manner in which they Will emerge from
Il Perhaps ''piauant" might seem
scarcely the word TO apply to the situa-
ton with which the present volume
opens, but as a matter of fact one Is
really obliged TO take with certain
calnness the two murders which to-
gether make the source Of all the
mystery Does not Prince Mayio, OF
japan. insist upon regarding them with
,1nruf7sd demeanor? He it is who sets
the pace for the movement OF this novel
He is sojourning in England, with
view TO reporting TO his Emperor as TO
whether or not there should be renewal
of the Anglo-Japanese treaty. As de-
voted servant OF his country he is ca
rabie Of anything. and in consequence ne
finds If difficult TO understand why the
high officials who are his friends in Lon
don should be much perturbed over the
fncomprehensible assassination OF two
men in the service of American OIL
rslomacy We do the reader no disser-
vice in revealing thai the prince himself
is suspected at least Of responsibility for
these crimes. As the story goes on its
interest lies as much in the disclosure
OF his point of view IS in the ferretins
out of his secret. Mr. Oppenhelm falterS
now and then. He causes a man whom
he would represent TO us as the very
fine flower Of discretion to commit the
clumsy stupidity Of offering bribe
where TO do SO is TO arouse fairly con-
elusive suspicious. But this is only
slip. In the main. Mr.. Oppenhein works
out his little puzzle with exemplary skill.
Decidedly. THE Illustrious Prince is
readable. 4 word of appreciation for the
illustrator OF this book should be added.
MI VIII Fosters drawings are excep-
tionaIIy good. They show far more
adroftness and seriousness in the sug-
sestior Of character than we are accus-
toned TO note in the pictures made for
current fiction.
The scene of ''Routedge Rides Alone"
Is 2 vide one, no less than the whole of
Asia in the hour Of its rebirth and re-
juvenation. The pacifcation Of the Phil
iepines by American soldiers, the seeth-
ing unrest in India. the Russo Japanese
war-au this comes within the scope Of
the story Of Routledge, the American
newspaper correspondent. and Of the
woman he loves and who loves him.
Max. more. the Irishman's hatred of the
Sassenach is made to furnish the point
OF departure of the plot, for it leads the
American TO take upon himself the dis
grace of another's treachery and his
punishment of ostracism. Finally, for
good measure. there is in the story an
element of mysticism, the age-old mys-
ticism of The East of which we hear so
much and-really know so little, anu that
which has been offered TO US by Blavat-
sky. Annie Besant and the Theosophical
Society. The author writes bitterly OF
British rule IN India, of crushing taxes
and never ending starvation, presenting
anew the dark picture that has been
held I'D 10 US so often after many years
of confident faith IN The justice and
benefits or English colonial aGministra-
ton Still, all OF this is introduced
chiefly for the sake Of the story, which
IS in its essence a tale Of adventure and
love picturesquely set and written with
dash and romantic conviction. The
sketches of the fighting in HIanchuria
are done with much spirit
Mr. Rideout mas done such clever work
that We have 2 right to be doubly dis
appointed ia THE Twisted Foot" This
story Of adventure in the East opens a
little more than well. and We settle down
to it with expectations of a thoroughly
absorbing yarn. The hero'S sudden and
quite unwilling plunge into a midnight
sea- his boarding of a boat containing
two sinister saTages, his encounter with
4 mysterious young man who is pres
entity murdered. and his search for the
original Of portrait brought into his
possession by all these circumstances
these things foreshadow abundant ex-
citement We assume. as a matter of
course, that the plot viii he framed
throughout in such fashion as to he
worthy of so good a beginning Tn
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