The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1913-04-13

i opposed, hArrassed, and bafYied at ever
turn by enemies who tax all his powers
Through all the lure OF the mysteriou
crystal stopper, whose importance an
significance Lupin himself does not real
lie for time. draws into its quest man.
of his old-time enemies and Q host o
new ones. Won and lost dozen times
1t is only at the end that it plays IL
part in freeing beautiful woman from
the Vaccinations of master-villain. ant
bringing peace to the harrassed thief
and then, GROWING wonder OF all, I
turns out, not to be a stopper at all. OIL
\ at least not the kind that he had beer
looking for. Perhaps the interest aroused
by the perusal of so lively a story on,
| should not be captious as to the manner
| of its telling. But some things in tn,
translation by Mr.. De Mattos strike on,
occasionally as humorously out of keep
Ing with the Partisan atmosphere Of the
tale. For example, Lupin in one place
exclaims:
You will jolly well do nothing of the
sort! an expression that is decidedly
English rather than Gallo. Again "clean
on his chump" may be as near to the
! original French expression as transla-
tor could get without. doing violence either
to good taste or the proprieties, but it
looks queer in French story. as does
also the term ''bounder," which is ap-
piled now and then to one Of the charac-
tiers.
THE HERO OF HERAT: By Maud Diver. New
YWk-G. p. Patnam's Sons
A difflcult task. and one graced with
little surety of success. IL the work Of
reviewing half-forgotten or unrecogniz-
ed hero: who does not possess the charm
for us that he does for his enthusiastic
biographer. Although Miss Diver has
not fallen into the habit Of exaggerat-
ing the importance and the virtues of
her hero. her book presents the difficult
ties Of its kind. THE Hero of Herat''
recounts the adventures of Maj Pot
finger In the Herat region of Afghanis-
tan during the later sos of the last
century. when England and the Afghans
were friendly. and the Shah of Persia
threatening. On the strength of the ro-
nance of these adventures, they are put
In the shape Of fiction; the book is a
partial biography in the guise Of a his
torical novel. with Pottinger as the hero,
and Var Mahomad Khan as the villain,
.Pottinger's work at Herat as a plot. and
for q romantic, mysterious
background. 4
But except in a superficial way, 1.-The
Hero Of Herat' is not a novel at ALL
Miss Diver ia endowed with a sense of
fact stronger than a sense of romance
She sacrifices ease and vividness to &C
curacy; measures her statements careful
1y. and confesses when she Is only sup
positidous. She intersperses the action
with contemporary lettets and journals
which shed historical light on the sub
ject and falls prey to distractions that
have no place in the life OF the hero.
Unfortunately as the historical element
has marred the story, so the story ele-
ment has marred the biography. The
reality and the correctness of the BIZ
ography are present, but some of its
essential framework is lacking, and the
book stands 'betwixt and between"
somewhat Of a nondescript. Not we'll
composed for biography, 1t is not COM
plete enough for a history.
DAUGHTER OF BRAHMA: By I. A. R. wylie
The Bobbs Merrill Company. Indianapolis
Out ~ the fathorr,Iass rrvsea-Ies - r-st- !