The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-15
THE GREAT AI.urNr11pnr

THE GREAT ADVENTURE" By Richard Bird. With Frontispece. By F. Vaux Wilson. The Bobbs-Merrill Co.,, Publishers, Indianapolis.
 Change adventure to the plural: all fairy tales, larSs. Arabian Nights en- tertainment, and the story is well de- scribed The qualifying adjective "gay'' may stand, though whimsical" new"
 comic" may be offered in addition. Dehghtful comments; thumbnail sketches;
 slde-ights. interesting and engrossng, give the narrative it's distinction No one can complain that the story does not
 plunge into action. It begins as briefly. as abruptly, as strikngly as a play. and the reader is quite ready to accept every thing the author offers on it's face value
 The impecunious playwright, in debt to ms landlady, with trunk full of
 manuscript plays which no manager will read, is caught up in adventure that re- minds one more of l3agdad than of Lon don. He saves pretty girl from a run away takes her xl a taxi to the theatre. drives with her in the park listens to
 the story of her past, becomes involved in
 mesh of farcical circumstances. is her house mate from then on, and flnallv- ihaff1es her, and is provided henceforth out of her ample income with the pros- pect of personal success as well. Tho
 maid, the typical Nennese, her middle ased lover, taXicab owner, and 2 mar ried couple of middle class extraction. un lmpeachablc responsibility and dull ex-
 istence help Beatisce to keep the ball in molten. Of course, Beatrice is the girl of the runaway. Ard Lionel-wcll. with that name who else could he be but the impecunious playwrightP
 So Beatrice tells Lionel A roma ntic farrago about her abduction by gypsies her enforced marriage to a really nice Turk, her flight at his orders with his m Tnp t..~s her twin sister. She tells him that the Turkish embassy is hunting for the pa- pers and the opportune disappearance of Mizzi, the maid whom Lionel has Kissed once, but refrains from kissing again, lends color to her assertions. During the first part of the story, char acter after character is introduced. But there Is no confusion, Tor each stamps hlmself fndelibly on the memory Each figure Is vivid, individual, delightfully."- original There are the Hedderwicks and Tony. the man about town, who has comfortable income but no way of Killing time. There is Henry, the taxi cab owner, who makes love to Mizzi The Vicar and Peters in the country village; the manager who is in love with Beatrice; Forbes, the dumb butler who answers questions by writing on a piece of paper, "I am sorry, sir, but I cannot write"; the landlord and the am paSsauor-tneSe ana more lend life and mirth to the story.
 The charm of Quiet House round which the action centers is unique. Luck plays into the hands of the heroine and the airy fabric of her invention, which might be demolished by a single remark single appearance continues to en- chant the reader. That she herself re- main immune until the chosen hour for revelation is but part of the general fairy tale atmosphere. The Arabian incident In London, the rural comedy and the love affair are stitched together adroitly and variously embroidered with fancy and humor. To read .~rhe Gay Adven- ture" is to stroll in delightfully."- original company. with philosophical show man by your side. You read and you roar and you read some more and roar some more '"rhe Gay Adventure" is one hilarious. bright, snappy novel, a story that serves it's purpose exactly--to furnish a fund of hunior and excitment that is brand-new and fetching.
 ''WILLTAM AND BILL"
 By Grace MacGowan Cooke and Caroline
 Wood Morrison The Century company,
 publishers, New York
 The south knows Grace MacGowan Cooke as writer of rare talent and technique and with her collaborator, Caroline Wood Morrison, she has given in their story, William and Bill." a most delightful book. which will be read