New-York tribune., 1910-07-16
Romances and Novels Chiefly by
American Authors.

The Bobbs-MerrtIi Company.
THE FJLFIIL.SfENT. BY Alice P Rap!h-
ael Frontispiece from an etehlng o
" D Steele. l2rno- pp- sl5. The stuTgi'
g. Walton Company.
WHEN LOVE CALLS MEN TO ARMS
an A~cbiog-aphy OF Love and Advent
ure Trutkfuliv Set Down by RoTle Mac
lean Laird Of hileIlan. IN The Seven.
from the Original Manuscript Into
Clearer English. BY Stephen Chalmers :
Illustrated by Howard Chandler mrs.
L2mo pp. So. Boston; Small MAYNARD
THE RED SYMBOL. BY John Ironside
With Illustrations by ?. {. Yo1n. i2no
pp S5s Boston: Little, Brown & co.
RosANoND THE SECOND, By MARY
Mears lsno. pP- 1ss- The T a stokes
Company.
WATIN Rv ConinEsby William DaN-
son. limo. pp- 5s9. The George n
Doran Company
IN AMBUSH. By Marie Van Worst ,1ri.5 me,
pp s0s Philadelphia. The j. .. L'pl'lh-
cott Company
We know that several attempts were
made in this country after Waterloo 10
organize an expedition for the rescue OF
%a2oIeon from ST. Helena. The inVen-
ton Of q possible direct descendant OF
the great Corsican is not new loea III
fiction. though ne has been far less often
exploited than 2 similar. and Tar less
rrobahle descendant e the Dauphln'
whose ultimate fate has never been de-
ci6ed nv the historians beyond all pos
s,ble doubt Mr. MacGrath combines the
historic fact Of the planned rescue. for
which money was actually collected, ana
the historic possibility OF q great-grand-
son of the first Emperor il a Splendid
Hazard" but does not attempt TO turn
them into z pseudo-historical novel In
stead. he gives as tale Of romantic ad-
venture. whose scenes are laIo IN Eu-
rope in an old mansion IN this country,
aboa-d a yacht. and in Corsica the ma
soritv of his characters being Americans.
Il is an ingenious tale, with plenty Of
action ana movement The only other
novel effectively dealing with much the
same motive that we remember is The
Fourth Napoleon. the work Of an Eng
lishman. which. published ten or twelve
years ago. failed to attract the attention
i deserved This book is not mere TO
nance. however. but supremely clever
do-nistorical tale Of q coup d detat
and a short reign. The story is men
toned here because il is well worth
reading.
The scene Of The Ful1llment" is laid
in St Petersburg and Paris-why, one
fails 70 see. since the author makes
practically nothing Of the local color,
the atmosphere Of either city. young
Russian girl. an intellectual" whom
the author makes more like young
American girl Of the day than anything
else. Is married TO a nobleman Of her
own nationality. fifteen years her
sen;or-vhich, the author 10 the con-
rrary notwithstanding, is nothing un-
usual in continental Europe. However,
the young wife is disappointed in mar
risge. and dreams only Of her Art,
which is painting The son she bears is
unwelcone TO her. and when her hus-
hand informs her that they will spend
year or his estate in the country,
n where his presence is needed, she leaves
u him ana goes to Paris. Note: This and
many other recent novels warn us that
Tristan und Isolde" is far more dan
eerous than the KreuJzer Sonata ever
vas.J u Paris the wouan's life is ex-
actly the reverse from what il was in
s.. PetersbBsE She learns 10 value
The things % life she despised there, she
ahandons Art without q pang, for love
The whole thing appears 10 have been
done at second or third hand.
Dirks and claymores and tartans and
kits and pibrochs-here, in When Love
Calls Men 10 Arms are the High
landers IN all their seventeenth century
romance and savagery- The lighting and
duellirg and killing sre incessant al
most from the beginning, which Is q pro-
loEue. taking its origin in the strandlng
Of one Of the ships Of the Armada on the
Scotch coast and the escape with his life
q 2 Spanish nobIeman. Needless 10 say
that he falls in love with a well born
Highland lassie and that the end is
tragedy. M. Chalmers has apparently
based his narrative throughout upon his
1oric sources. though here and there he
apologies for rearranging his material
somewhat Tor the purposes OF his fic-
ton In the fOreshortening which all
fiction is whether il be historic, ro-
mantle or realistic the values appear TO
have become a little overemphasized.
There is decidedly more Of the Arms
than Of the Love in the book-almost
more, one would think, than one Mac
lean could fight through and escape in
the course of an average span OF life
Nihflism onoe more, The trouble be-
gins n London. the worlds asylum for
political refugees an American cor
respondent for an English newspaper,
on the point Of departure for ST. Peters
burg. stumhles upon The Red Symbol
o. z secret society. discovers the muir
der. II the rooms over his own, Of
Russian-agent spy, conspirator. who
knows and. most amazing Of all. dis
covers thar the girl he loves is IN some
mysterious way mixed up in dark and
DANGEROUS doings Thereafter things
begin 10 happen. and keep on happen
ing with constantly increasing celebrity
until the end. There IS an adventure
and danger in every chapter. and the
hook is fifty-two chapters long. The
plot is ingeriously constructed, and
never gets out Of hand. The clew 10 all
the bafiing complications is kept until
the very last For those who like the
fiction ot GREATNESS action and advent
uve and suspense. this is the right kind
O. book
There IS no genuine imagination in