The Washington herald., 1911-03-12

AI.IsE OF ASTRA. BY H. b. Marriott Wstson
Fl-ztIsr.crr by T. Graham COntes. lano. TT.
81 E">ton: Little. Brown & Co.
This time We are not in Southeastern
Europe. but in a duchy somewhere be
tween Germany and France, which, from
Mr.. WatsOns description. looks surpris-
lngIy like Luxembourg. There is even
noble boar of the local mountains 1t
is the old foundation of plot, the we'll
born wandering EngliShman happening
into Il conspiracy for little throne, but
the action and all its incidents are
new, even if the iron chancellor and the
!rVahle princess are not but she, at
least. plays a more or less incidental
Part until the prescribed ending is
reached. Circumstances bring the bar
Onet into close relations with the leaders
of the opposing factions, with the pre-
tender and his agents on the one hand,
with the rcgenteSS. whose life he saves,
on the other; most Of all with the chan
CellOr. who, for some mysterious reason,
wishes to put him out of the way by the
traditional method OF assassination for
reasons Of state. And here lies the Crux
Of the plot, the plausible excuse, also,
for the Englishman'S continued stay in
the country when common Sense-and
the rcader-COUnsel him to return home.
lie must solve two questions, the identi-
ty of a woman killed in a railroad wreck
and the cause OF the chanCellOr's hoStili-
T.. He solves them both, and with them
several other thing, among them his own
future. Mr. Watson has written a story
whose interest does not flag until the
Crd 1t is delightful light reading.
THE ADVENTURES OF 4 MODEST MAN. BY
Robert ". Chambcrs- Illustrated by Edmund
Frederick. Iaro. Up II. u. Appleton & Co.
Mr.. Chambers has lightly and grace
fully carried out a pretty conceit, that
of weaving a number of his short stories,
all daintily romantic, into the pattern
OF a new Eossamer romance. The sto-
ries are told by an eXpatriatc in Paris
to one of his American companions in
the Latin Quarter in the happy days of
youth, the companion, taking up the
threads, adding a romantic episode of
his own, and filling out the fabric with
the delightful butterfly dOings of his
daughters in the City of Light. their
fiirtations and ultimate betrothals- 1t
is age looking backward and renewing
its delight in the springtime of life. The
web is of the lightest, but its artifCiali-
ty has charm. and the ntertainment is
dainty in its appeal to the readers imag-
inatiun There is also a technical pleas
ure in the book-the ingenuity of
the author in making such clever new /
use of old material, instead of present |
ing it again as it appeared originally, |
with a mere acknowledgment of the !
courtesy of permission to reprint from |
the periodicals in which the stories orig |
inally appeared.
THE HONOR OF THE BIG SHOWS. By James
Oliver CurEood, author Of The Danger Tfail.
illustrated in cOlors BY Charles Livingston Bull /
s. . net The Bobts-MerriH Company.
Mr.. Curwood's latest story is easily |
his strongest He has again taken us TO
the great Hudson Bay country, which he
knows so well and paints so fascinating
ly, but this time he has given US a hui
man drama of greater simplicity and (
more vital significance than hitherto.
Jan, his hero, is a unique and striking
character in the fiction of the day.
Whence he comes or how, when he ap-
pears one night at the cabin of John !
Cummins as his wife lies dying, we do
rot know, but we love him for what he
is and for the wonderful music of the
violin he has strangely brought with
him. A strange combination is Jan, of
the strong, primitive man and the musi-
cal genius. There is not only great
strength in him, but a vein of truest no.
etry, yet the two elements so seldom
found in the same personality do not
impress US as incongruous Jan Is
creation, drawing and holding the inter-
est and sympathy as few characters have