The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-10-26


story" No other description fits it,. 1t
! is bright, humorous, breezy, interest
| ing, absorbing and 1t "ratt1es" along
at brisk jace to a very satisfactory
| conclusion and a conclusion, moreover,
which fits the story perfectly.
1t concerns the adventures of a maid
en- lady who finds herself suddenly pos
sessed of seven blood-red diamonds and
the center of various efforts to gain the
stones from heh ands. The jewels, in
the first place, have been stolen in
France from a Pittsburg millionaire
| The thief, de Ravenol. is the father of
| a beautiful daughter. Claire, and,
/ through her. he attempts to get the
| jewels into America, smuggled through
the customs. Claire assists because she
| thinks she is caring for papers that
would place her fathers life in jeo
pardy. Mrs. Delario. clairvoyant. finds
the gems, and fancies that they have
come to her in fulfillnlent of a ''proph-
ecy." She honestly believes they belong
| to her. De Ravenol, following, dis
covers that the diamonds have been
lost, and he learns they are in the pos
session of the maiden lady. And so
they are-given into her keeping by
Mrs. Dalario. who is fearful that they
twill be stolen. Or Ravenol makes vari-
! Gus attempts to recover them, threat
| ening in one way and another, and, in
is employed by the millionaire to re-
| cover the jewels. The maiden lady, in
her fright, appeals to Billy Rivers for
assistance, and Rivers of course, meets
Claire. In the end. the diamonds are
placed in the hands of the detective,
De Ravenol goes free and Claire. we
are assured. marries Billy.
From beginning to end, the story
holds the readers interest closely and
compels reading. The style itself, light,
occasionally flippant, is of the gallop
ing kind that hurdles the reader along
from chapter to chapter, and makes
him reluctant to lay the story aside.
most amusing tale of crime and
mystery, 1t has all the elements neces-
sary to good detective story-an in
teresting, mysterious crime q secret
perfectly concealed, a daring criminal
an innocent girl and two other inno-
cent, attractive women under suspicion,
mang tight Situations, and finally "a
satisfactory outcome Beside these
there is in 1t a nice little love affair,
a number of nice people, whom the
reader cannot help liking, even while
! he things they are criminals, and in
cluding the real criminal, consider
able amount of worldly wisdom, and
best of all, great deal of humor The
plot which is, of course, the main
thing in story Of this sort, is ex-
ceedingly complicated and ingenious
involving theft smuggling, an alleged
! political intrigue on the part of Ger
many to get Mexico and finally clair
voyance, with communications from the
great mystics of Thibet, and the belief
on the part of one OF the characters
that presents are sent her from them
before she is to be initiated into the
| inner circle.
| To state the things one after the 9TH
er thus. gives the impression that the
book is exceptionally shoddy, whereas
in reading it, they all seem so pos
sible. and they are so enveloped in the
atmosphere of New York, where most
of the action takes place, and they are
so lightened by the humor that per-
vades them that they give an impress
sion of entire everydN possibility. OF
course, ,one realizes that such adven-
lures do not often befall ordinary.
proper ladies in New York; but one
believes while reading that they might
happen, provided there were women
willing to run the risks these women
did for the sake of jewels and for the
sake of friendship.
JOAN THURSDAY"
By Louis Joseph Vance. With illustra-
| tions by Oscar Cesare. Little, Brown
| & Co.. Boston.
Mr. Louis Joseph Vance occupied such
an undisputed popularity as writer Of
\ fiction that it is useless to say he has
utilized his skill in the most delightful
and interesting manner in his new book.
| Joan Thursday"
! The enormous success of his former
books have shown that he is a past
| grand master in the art of tale telling
and to the sordid fats of large Ameri-
, can city. where life is shown In It's most
IL 49, <xt~~