New-York tribune., 1910-08-13
A Dramatic Story of the South
African War.

novels we have come upon IN long
time. 1t is enthralling because Mr. De-
han has in him a fund of sympathy for
Door human nature and because he pos
sesses the narrative gift, the faculty Tor
SO telling a story that the reader cannot
but go on L is speeious because the
strings that have done service Tor
thousand puppets lurk beneath the sur
face, and the characters like the plot,
are not quite the genuine things they ap-
pear. Finally, the pathetic stop is IN
dulged in beyond all measure In the
moment of reflection that 1oioWs
b,,eathless perusal of the book one is
cvniealIv suspicious that, in classic
nhrase- some one has been pulling his
leg. Let us. however, deal first With the
merits of a decidedly clever book.
IF is Il story Of the South African war,
the preIifYlinaries taking us upon the
scene a few years before tie opening
of that conflict. In this already troubled
period an Englishman moves slowly
across the yeldt. looking for some spot
OF consecrated ground in which to bury
the mother of his child. He finds in
stead a vile tavern. near which he Is
obliged himself TO dig a grave for the
body in his wagon. He, too. is presently
deposited in the earth, leaving his baby
daughter at the mercy of a man almost
incredibly evil. The child survives, TO
be picked up on the highway by some
holy women, and thenceforth her home
is in a convent at Gueldersdorp, where
she sees the horrors of war, is success
fully E9oed by one man and ultimately
becomes the wife of another. The Dulk
of the book is taken uP with the siege OF
the little town. and abcunds N picta-
RESCUE incidents as We'll as i'll types OF
British pluck of both sexes. 1t would De
hard 10 praise too highly the skill with
which Mr.. Dehan dispeses at this part
of his task The tale Is tong. but 1t does
net fias From one thrilling or touch
ing episode to another the reader passes
with interest undiminshed AS meio-
drama pure and simple one brafet
Thing IS merely absorbing. But IN ms
tresta1ent Of deeper issues the author
mistakes his knack at shocking our
nerves for the power 90 touch our imasi-
nstiep.
se GNSrUpfS lils
tive We saw "noninally" for the ree-
ser that the suffsrinss Of Lynette Mil
dare. after being harped upen WITH
morbid insistence. end by leaving the
reader a little cold, if not quite uncon-
WINGED You wonder if Mr.. Dehan, be
ginning ia all good faith, has not uncor-
sciously worked himself I'D to the point
Of making yo1lr flesh creep just to see
xo.,, scuirn Having caused Lynette 10
mss through soaring esonies in her girl
hood. Including the most atreeieus
Erang that could possibly be infllcteo
rrpon her, ne almost wantonly creates
opportunities for her TO live over again
and again the abominable tortures
through which she has passed To make
matters worse, more than one or the
other nersonases is panDrlled IN sor-
rog-the Mother Superior of the con-
vent because the iIiegitimate child OF the
man who had Tilted her has come INTO
her hands branded with grief, LORD
Rea,1yavse because he has q, wife living
Of the moment Of his winning OF Ly-
nette- and Owen Saxbam because he has
been the town drunkerd and does not
SEE lHSI now 4t II ~
self in the eyes of the woman he adores-
4 certain amount of this Woe might go
down. But Mr. Dehan is not content TO
uncover an old wound every now ana
then he must turn the knife in it and
MAY for more tears. The most sensitive
reader is not unlikely to rebel
No less reprehensible than this lachry-
n,ose vein is the dependence upon GOMEZ
.6arce which tells heavily not alone IN
the arrival of succor when the chlld
L.vnetts is seemingly past all hope
but in The determination of'other deVel-
opnents. The man who satanlcaIy IN
lures her in South Africa Is the same
man who ruins liz London her future
husband The people whose lives are
intertwined with hers in Gueidersdorp
all have antecedent points in common
so that they take on the aspect OF a
family party. md to deepen our sense
of the artificiality latent in the book the
individuals told off to provide sort OF
comic relief in the prevailing gloom
are figures OF the Geographic school.
factitious TO the last degree Why, then'
does "One Braver Thing" keep the read
er absorbed from beginning 10 endE We
have already given some explanation
Let it be added that In his vivid, earnest
way Mr.. Dehen has the root Of the mat
ter in him 1t is improbable that ne is
even remotely conscious OF the faults of
excess by which this story is weakened
and disfglred. There is a note OF sin
ceritv diseernibie through all the re
dundant patbos sn6 all the tTite heroics
Of his I1u.,f. We smile when, in order
to aecentdate tbs anguish Of Z. talker,
he makes a little foam come out upon the
lips-and does this not once but several
times On the other hand, We perceive
that he has the instinct Of the born story
;elIer. ana we take this novel as an ear
nest OF better things TO come. Mean
While, his best friends MIL beware OF
FALLING into the absurdity which in some
quarters would appear to have brack-
cied him with Baizac-a preposterous
association.
i, his new volume OF essays Professor