The San Francisco call., 1910-07-17
"The Wild Olive"
By the author Of The Inner Shrine Pub
lished by Harper & Brothers. New York AM
London. Price 81 30.

By the author Of The Inner Shrine" Pub
lished by Harper & Brothers. New York and
London. Price s1.5O
The Wild olive is the title of the
second novel by the author of last
years best SELLER 1.-THE Inner Shrine
Most of the critics over the country
have at last decided that Basil King
was the author of the first book and
some say that he himself has acknowl-.
edged it; if so, why the continued an
onymity?
While the first novel was not great
it was an interesting tale and showed
ina gination and ability on the part of
the author. This is not borne out by
his work in the new story He shows
much ingenuity in setting his stage and
showing in his first situation. but after
his story to take care of itself. a
In the first chapter we meet the hero,
who proves to be a convicted murderer.
He has escaped his jailers and in run
ming away into the mountains runs
plump into the country house of the
judge who has convicted him. He is
hungry, thirsty and tired, but he and
thet Judge have long argument about
law and justice--a foolish argument,
too for the judge has condemned him
against his own. belief and Judgment.
During the conversation the hero, Nor
rie Ford, sees a woman beckoning to
him through the window and goes to
her. She secretes him for 25 days and
finally when the excitement of his
escape is abating she gives him clothes,
money and her fathers name and as
sists him to go to Buenos Aires. This
girl is the wild Olive" of the title, an
allusion to the eleventh chapter of
Romans. She has an hereditary hatred
of the law because of her own history.
Her mother had aided her father to
escape from prison and had then lived
with him without legal or church sane
tion. The sins of the parents are Wis
tied upon the daughter, Miriam Strange,
and though ward of Judge Wayne, his
wife will not be her social sponsor be-
cause of her birth.
Ford, furious because he has been
unjustly condemned, takes his escape
gladly, but swears he will have moth
ing more to do with social conventions
The improbability of the situation
never occurs to the reader till after
the book is finished, barring only the
ridiculous scene with the Judge; but
the remainder of. the book does not
come up to this promise.
Instead OF sailing out into the world
and having adventure Ford settles
down quietly in his adopted country,
goes to work and earns an honest liv-
ing. In 10 years he has climbed re-
spectacle distance up the ladder and is
engaged to his employers empty head
ed daughter The 10 years which he
spends in South America are dreary,
commonplace and uninteresting, and
the author bores us TO extinction with
his padding
Fate now takes him back to New
York, and almost at once he meets
Miriam Strange, who proves to be the
guardian and friend of his fiancee. She
insists that he tell the story of his life
to the girl before he marry her and at
last he is convinced that 1t is his only
course. She, fearing that he may sus-
pect she is in love with him, engages
herself to another man, who tries to be
a villain but can not. These COM
plications keep Norrie and Miriam
apart until the last page, but all is
right at last.
The book began so we'll that one can
not forbear severe criticism on the last
three quarters of it. The author is at
his very best in the dramatic and aJ-
venturous scenes and falls down so
in the other sort.
Through the unquotable channel of
an anonymous letter we are told that
the author Of The Inner Shrine" also
wrote "The Green Cloak" That book
was written last spring by Curtis
Yorke,'' plainly a nom de plume, and
the publishers at the time said of a
very well known novelist. 1t was a
sort of psychological detective story,
full of action and, as remembered,
good of it's kind. Nothing like SO seri-
Gus an attempt as this book, but sue
cessful time killer.
'sThe Mountain That Was Cod
By John H. Williams. Published by John H.
Williams, Tacoma. Wash. Cloth. 81; paper.
so cents.
John H. Williams, who is well known
10 the newspaper fraternity of San
francisco, has prepared and published
| beautiful book on Mount Rainier un-
Ter the title, ''The Mountain That Was
Sod." The author describes the coun-