The Washington herald., 1912-09-15
Literary Review of Latest Publications

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quiet life at home, the place OF his hap
piness. "
The Court of st. Simon is an exclusive
tribunal established by rich Valentine
Simon, vicomete de Souspennier. who. by
way Of amusing himself. endeavors TO
adequate some Of the miserable unfair-
ness of life II he finds manufactures.
who underpays his employees. the man Is
seized by Simon's band-as vicious
collection of men as ever garrotted an
| innocent victim-and the unfortunate Is
| tortured until he gives large sums for
| the relief of the poor. Other innocent
| and pleasing amusements are INDUCED in
| by the vivacious M. Simon. but he makes
the mistake of admitting to his court a
| weakened, decadent young English
man, who finds more pleasure in the
society of the vicious band Of men who
attack their feliow-beings for revenue
i and not for charity or justice. The VI
comte. in spite of his novel methods, is a
| man OF honor and forceful and resource
full. He starts to make love to beau
tiful woman, quite a stranger to him. as
a thunderstorm catches them in little
summer house. and before the clouds
roll by plans for a wedding are nearly
| completed.
The author has drawn well the differ
| ent types of men and women who have
part in the story, and not the least strik-
| ing is the heros protege. a girl who Is
gutter-waif OF Paris: later famous
dancer she shares with NJ. Simon the
honors and Joys that come from good
deeds performed under unusual circum-
stances.
THE SECRET OF LONESOME COVE By Samuel
4 D,1,l MarT1n
Indianapolis
knows how to tell story not. lacking in
action or interest. His is the school OF
\ suspended" interest. He gives the reader
little chance to solve the riddle he pre-
sents until he is ready to do so himself
| The result is absorbing attention and no
| tagging waits between scenes.
It was only last year that the author
| introduced a new style of detective to
fiction readers, in the person of Average
Jones. This year he has invented Ches-
ter Kent for that purpose, and he holds
the center of the stage in his new novel;
| THE Secret of Lonesome Cove" Kent
who Is called upon to solve a mystery so
overwhelmingly big that even this ex-
ceptionally shrewd young man, with all
| his acuteness, has to devote several
months to the case.
career: Postgraduate science. Agricul-
tural Department job; lectures; inven-
ton; Judiciary Department expert "
When his analytical mind brings to bear
! the methods of scientific research on the
mystery on hand. something is bound to
happen. And when the final solution
comes II is so logical. so reasonable, yet
so unexpected. that it is almost a mar
vel how he managed TO think of that.
| But Kent gives a reason for all he does,
and it fits.
| A body, apparently drowned, Is washed
up on the beach of Lonesome Cove. on
| the New England coast. The body. with
rope. is lashed to a grating. and the
hands of the corpse are manacled with
the old-fashioned irons now found only
| in the collections of relic seekers Kent
chances to be in the neighborhood, and
makes an important discovery when he
finds that a cocoon which is attached to
the grating contains a living insect.
| which proves that the body has been in
the water only a short time. There are
others in the neighborhood who also
make important discoveries. but for rea-
sons Of their own they keep their finds
TO themselves, and il is up to Kent to
save from unjust accusation an old col
lege mate. Francis Sedgwick. who lives
in the neighborhood-
When he attempts this, Kent uncovers
|
tween Sedgwick and a mysterious lady,
whom even Sedgwick does not know by
name. Instead of clearing Sedgwick,
each succeeding bit of evidence only
! draws the lines about him tighter. and
it seems that he has had a real motive
for committing a murder. No sooner is
a ray Of light shed upon the darkness
than it is found to be uncovering more
evidence which is damaging 10 Sedg-
wick. When the identity OF Sedgwick' s
love is discovered. romance is converted
into tragedy. Finally, just at the mo-
ment when things seem darkest. Kent
makes the discovery that removes the
least taint of suspicion from Sedgwick.
There is an undercurrent of brisk hu-
NOR running throughout the narrative,
and even Kent, scientific. calculating. al
most frigid in his manner. furnishes
comedy situations. The characters are
well drawn, and the minor characters
have been humanized TO such an extent
that they fit into the narrative. They
range in type from the natives OF the
average New England seacoast village to
a wealthy manufacturer, a travelling
faker, and a Boston astrologist.
FRIAR TICK. By Robert Ale1ande+ Mason.
Small, Marquard & Co. Boston.
"Friar Tuck is not to be taken as a
sequel to Happy Hawkins" but that
well-known worthy relates the expert
ences of Rev. John Carmichael 'sky pi-
lot out in Wyoming. and of the men
among whom he passes an adventurous
life.
To those who like Western yarns for
their refreshing dissimlarity to their own
environment. this new novel OF the able
story teller 'fn the rough is to be COM
mended. The volume is not a collection
of short stories. but "Happy's" anecdotes