Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-09-21

| choice. handsome. Miss Harraden con-
| tests these musty exactions, losses them
| into the waste basket, and whets her
tools for the fashioning of different sort
| Of hero. Adrian Steele is a little man
thin of muscle, dropping in the shoulder,
fiattened at the chest The least Apollo
like of figures. In business. he is a cheat
In friendship, he is a gutter at the idle
| beck of vagrant will. In love, sexless,
frequent and tickle lover of sneaking
TOO. ravisher Of women-of their minds.
wringing these like wet rags; Of their
souls. kicking them aside like pebbles in
the way; of their hearts. tossing them off
like blown and broken bubbles. Yet,
withal, he is both lovable and fascinating.
poet. charmingiy whimsical play
Fellow, flashing mind. agftating, inspir-
ing. A kindly man in general way. one
whom the wastrels of the world-lost
dogs. and cats. and humans-love and
| trust. The story opens with Steele facing
business exposure and ruin. In this
stress the woman Of him demands SYM
pathy, touch. From his wife? His wife
is negligible. Not her. Instinctively his
mind homes to two women. both discards
of earlier years. From this point the
story continues through the concerted eff
forts of these women to save Adrian
Steele. a hopeless task. as they subcon-
scfously know. The whole is dramatic,
Wen Knit. finished It's general theme is
reckon. The characters here, even the
least of them. are original and vivid.
Iamar Scott. the Jewish tradeswoman, Is
as notable as Steele himself. The end,
one that by the least wrong turn Of the
wrist would be melodramatic, is we'll
nigh classic-simple. inevitable, pitiful
MAIDS MONEY. BY Mrs. Henry
Dudeney, author of Rachel Lorian,'
etc. New York: Duffield & Co.
ha 80
makes thin and successfully resistant
surface to the colorful pattern Of first love-
In this markedly original story Mrs. Du-
deney engages two old maids and two old
bachelors to make complete demonstration
that the miracle Is past performance. The
general situation set by the author to
develop this lamentable fact is so natural
and simple as to appear an ingenious,
even weird, invention. The provision
OF strange will, on the one hand, and
| certain business pursuits, on the other.
| two women are cousins, willed to live to-
gether here. The men are merely friends.
AS story OF love, 1t Is, Of course, sap
less, wooden. immobile. AS a study Of
! character, Of states of mind and habit
sequent to certain lines Of circumstance,
it is close, in-seeing. concrete. powerful.
Mrs. Dudeney at her desk is as rigorous
and self-exacting as any scientist in his
| laboratory. She takes no liberties with
the situation. performs no single easing
act of sleight-of-hand. adorns no hard
fact, loosens none Of the aching bonds of
time. One envisages this writer, be-
aproned, sleeves rolled. knife in hand, pa
tient on the table, mere sympathy doffed
as apron dons. The diagnosis is perfect,
| the treatment expert, the report explicit,
complete, unaSsailable.
II one chance to possess the single quail
| ification that permits him to keep the
score OF this development, his feelings are
not over-comfortably Tapped as he. nod
ding assent. checks off the losses In this
game This loss of gift to see visions and
| lieve long past believing, the loss of
| Of yearning to serve, to mother, to father
| to child. these creations Of young and
| leaping hearts. However, to the authors
devotion to the inherencies Of her theme,
to her appreciation of the tragic in simple
things, to the truth of her artistic judg-
ment, to her skill in portraiture, to her
| all-of-a- piece consistency in outlook and
| execution, one must pay high tribute.
THE HOUSE Of ROBERSHAYE. A
novel. BY Emma Brooke, author of
| Sir Elyot of the Woods" etc. New
York: Duffield & Co.
The impenetrable gloom with Moth
ing Of the splendor Of "Wuthering
Heights damns this overwrought in
vention. In a word, this is the story:
rich English manufacturer. under an
inordinate lifelong ambition to increase