The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-01-16

-, the short stories by Joseph Conrad
,,c,rdcd in "a Set of Six" doubleday,
pare and Company. ono only. we are
.,,d has been printed previously in this
,,uriry. This is the longest, now called
~rps pncl." in which the author tries
t,s hand AT humor and sentiment very
s,ccessfnlly. The stories first appeared
IN England six years ago they are not
cheerful tales. that no one expects from
NJ Conrad hut all are exciting and all
,prn on queer characters. In The
Brute" the single sea tale. II Is ship
IN two others they are anarchists. The
las, story has a vivid picture OF Nea-
rolltan maefactor. II the italian Lam
vtare Is rather maltreated. In the first
story "Gaspar Ruiz" which is less per-
,sr, IN composition. perhaps, than the
others. the author seems less restrained
and allows his hero and the narrator to
10 more human In power and as liter
,ture the stories are far above the COM
mon run 81 magazine stories and all
who admire MIR. Ccnrad's great talent
will wish TO read them
Tho first portion of Zane Grey's THE
Lone Star Ranger" tHarpers), while the
hero IS a hunted outlaw, is strikingly
original and we'll done. The idea OF a
hereditary obsession to kill is rather
startling and does not become much more
palatable in that the instinct Is always
directed against bad men. We can sym
pathlze with the desire Of the COM
munity 20 rid itself of an avenging
angel However. the lonely wanderings
OF the outcast with every mans hand
against him are depicted wildly and
picturesduely. so that every small boy
will yearn to initiate him. With the
Young mans adherence to the side of
the law and his joining the rangers, the
story. while continuing to be extremely
exciting, becomes less artistic and turns
more to commonplace melodrama.
Though the period is that of the not re-
mote past, Texas is apparently no longer
the paradise OF bad men who are expert
with their revolvers. though the author
assures MS that there Is still abundant
oppartunity for the adventurous on the
Texas border.
In spite OF her extraordinary behavior
i IS an extremely charming and likable
heroine that Mrs. Baille Reynolds gives
ls IN The Cost of Promise" George
H. Doran Company. The plot is rather
absurd. but IL will keep the reader in
terested and some portions are extremely
wei done. We first meet her as a sensi-
i've and romantic little girl, too young
to hn lmbued by anarchist ideas. Ac-
leptng mat improbability. however, the
manner IN which her susCeptibilities are
worked upon TIL she l. keyed up To per-
pe.ratc crime of violence seems nat
uril She fortunately fails and we take
O Jump over many years To find her
grown young woman. determined to
have the suffrage. The account of the
breaking up Of the political meeting Is
capital. After that the story luckily
'urns away from the woman question.
We are not much impressed by her
Struggle with the heredity theory, nor
with the people who are affected by 1t,
and are pleased to have her exhibit at
the end the marked good sense that has
characterized her throughout, so that
the young man who loves her Is allowed
Wv 'Iltll'f ~ ~ W nat lflhAif'A VI ilAli'
We fear that the publishers statement
that James Oliver Curwood "is probably
the highest paid writer OF scenarios for
moving pictures in the country" may
have influenced us in reading Gods
Country-and the Woman" doubleday.
Page and Company. The successive
chapters present themselves as scenes
arranged for the camera, till we reach
The rather confusing conclusion. Up 10
date readers will recognize that the au-
thor can only mean the Canadian back
woods The hero, on his way back to
civilization, after four years spent on
the Arctic coast, meets "a solitary young
woman hundreds Of miles from any hab-
,arcs himself At once. She allows him
10 accompany her after he promises to
serve hcr without asking any ques-
tons and tells him that he must pre-
tend 10 be her husband under an as
sumcd name. This keeps the hero and
the reader perpeNed through a series Of
strange and exciting adventures. The
love making ia pretty the hero's faith
is marvellous. the comforts to be found
IN tho wilderness arc extraordinary.
The outdoor life Is picturesque and the
heroine IS attractive. When the secret
is revealed II is extremely unpleasant.
the srhcming seems pretty childish and
tho savage conclusion Is decidedly in the
fg nFft ta.lNf