New-York tribune., 1910-09-24
FICTION
Mr.. Rider Haggard Once More
in Beguiling Vein.

III Deg WA4H Veil
QUEEN sHEBA's RING BY 4 Rider
Eaggard- Illustrated BY Siguro Schou-
12no pp S26 Doubleday, Page & Co.
THE OTHER SIDE. By Horace Annesley
Doran Company.
TIE MIRAGE OF THE MANY. ByW,
p Walsh. 12mo. pp- S26. Henry Holt
Co
= MANS NAN. By Ian Hay. 12u1o. pp.
2S9. The Aoughton ALifatn Company
THE QUESTS OF PAUL BECK. By Mac
donald Bodkin- Illustrated by Ernest
Brown & co.
TIE SHADOW OF = TITAN. By a F.
Wedgwood 12no. ID. SIS The John
Lane Company
DOWN TO TIE SEA Yarns from Labra-
dor. BY wilfrid T. GEenfeIi N :; D II
lusJrated- 12no, pp 2S6- The Fleming
Il. ReveIl Company
Mr.. Haggard's staying power eZcites
our admiration. Again and again he
returns 10 a fantastic, asi-antiQuarian
motive and though. TO be sure. he never
quite recaptures the glamour Of those
romances which made his repute. King
Solomon-s Mines" and She he comes
so near TO doing so that we are CRATE
rul TO him Just the same. Queen
+ Sheba's Ring is one of the best of his
/ later tales. The supposititious narrator
/ is an English doctor. a wanderer by in
stinct who while practising at Cairo
had married q Copt and had a son. This
child, when twelve years Of age, was
kidnapped by the Mahdi's people. Long
afterward the doctor traces him in North
/ Central Africa, where the boy is held
as a slave by a barbarous tribe. After
q vain attempt at rescue he returns to
the task, accompanied by Ptolemy
Higgs. an eccentric archeolog!st; Cap
tain Oliver OrTne, q noble soldier Of fort
une, and the latters servant, Sergeant
Quick, who turns out to be perhaps the
most engaging figure in the book MI
Haggard carries them all through pro-
digious adventures, giving rich veri-
sinilitude TO those pictures Of strange
civilizations at the heart OF the Dark
Continent which il has ever been his de-
light 10 draw. The places. people and
incidents here described are. Of course,
incredible, but while the tale flows on
the spirit Of golden romance fills every
page. The lovely heroine, an authentic
! descendant OF Sheba' g queen. is a most
winning young lady. well worthy Of ali
( the struggles that the Englishmen make
! in her service. AS for Sergeant Quick,
I he is a soul TO love. It is delightful
book from beginning TO end
The hero OF MI VacheITs story might
have been the Beethoven Of his age He
( chose instead TO be its favorite composer
Of songs. waltzes, marches and musical
+. comedy scores. He might have dwelt
On the heights but he preferred TO take
the pleasures Of an easy popularity in
/ company frothy and amusing, il en-
/ t-Tely unworthy OF his talent and char
acter- His great oratorio. In Solo
mons Garden" the inspiration for which
had come 70 him in the early days Of
his marriage. remains unfinished. Then
a glimpse is vouchsafed him Of The
Other Side beyond the bourn Of the
shadow country whittier his wife has
preceded him. Mr Vschell does not
/ overload his book with arguments and
/ beliefs: he uses his subject matter only
for the purposes OF a good story. The
theory of existence beyond the grave, in
4 the modern spirftistic conception. has
done service in fiction before. Mr.
Vachel uses it legitimstely as q novel
ist. not as propagandist. in fact, one
does not learn from his pages whether
he is a believer or a skeptic The book
is well written. with the sure touch OF
q practised hand. i has movement and
action. its minor characters are lightly
but clearly suggested and the transition
from the world OF reality to that of
shadows is skilfully managed.
Socialism is growing Increasingly CD
portunistic and correspondinglv less doc
trinaire The theory has become flexible
and has outgrown its original ideal OF
an ultimate static organization OF So
ciety Mr.. Walsh undertakes 10 picture
for as. in The Mirage Of the Many" the
chaos that would result II a socialistic
administration We're to be elected IN this
country. According 10 him. this may
happen in the year 1852. Chicago has
become the first city in the country. He
insists on this. in fact. he rubs II in
According 70 q gell known dictum. the
social state, as he pictures II, proves TO
be the greatest disappointment OF all.
czpeclally 10 the socialists themselves.
Skilled workers are set 10 do unfamiliar
work. foremen are elected. the spur OF
competition vanishss, and the corrupt
politician manages TO grab the desirable
places The builders Of giant industries
see the structures Of z lifetime 90 70
wreck and ruin and in the mia nsteries