Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-08-22

eide of this abyss stands man as his
life has fashioned him. On the far s'oe
hoyers the glorious figure which In MS
dreams he has set himself to be. Here
10 the reality, over there the utopiah
n,,rae. md the approaches to TINS
nearer AMI lesser point are all pS way
or tortuo,1s roads, by way OF many
c,,Ide-sac explored and abandoned, oy
uav of alIuring but wasteful detours.
FINALLY outdone and wayworn, man
settles down, worlds and worlds snort
of the fair city of his youthful hopes.
Compared with that which in his heart
he longs to be- he is poor creature, a
slave in bond to the innumerable ty-
rants that swarm upon MIN out OF MS
own body, out of the loins of his an
cestry, out of the tolls of immediate
circumstances. So set upon, he has
neither power nor disposition to dis
cover whether or not life has de-
sign, and pattern. and goal, that misht
serve as guide to his own course. fer-
force, therefore. he brings himseil ~
be content with Snatchlng mere anu
there in hand-to-mouth emersenc! OF
existence Mr.. Vaughan tells TINS
parable in the story of the nrst WENT
one years of the life of Philip carey.
Over six hundred pages CT intimate ue
tail go into the inclusive and reallstic
record And nowhere in the long ana
circumstantial story of Philip does the
writer forget that his business is 10
make clear the bonds in which the poy'
and every mother son of US Desloe. Is
hound and thrown. When, now ana
then the horizon HShtenS and Sio"s
with the ineffable beauty Of mans I'M
uslningS Ii Is only to mark the Wlde
and unseiZabie spaces that lie between
1t and the reality Setting the charac-
nil lin
wide middle range of life. where most
of the people are. MIR. MauSham Cd
jectifies the common fact OF human
bondage through the wide applicability
of this single. concrete, convincing eA-
ample. There is surprising work mere
in the character of Philip Carey. Ana
not in that of Philip alone, but in that
of each of the others-Mildred. Moran,
Sally and group of lesser folks. THESE
step out of this book and walk about
the everyday streets, throwing
searchlight into the hearts of hish
hope ana worsted endeavor to be found
there. Tine book is a triumph in more
directions than one. Its theme is as
broad as human life. 1t reaches the
high-water mark OF fictional realism
that is focused and purposeful, stamp
ing it as work OF art as well as
picture of life. 1t is monumental in
its proportions. yet none OF 1t shouid,
or could, have been omitted. 1t is
story for leisurely reading, for the
slow INSCRIPTIONS with which one ac-
Quaints himself with character outside
of books
ON THE FIGHTING LINE. By Con-
stance Smedley. New York: q. P.
Putnam'S Sons
This title promises another war story.
But the promise fails of fulfiflment, for
the fighting line extended here is that
along which a girl engaged in the
homely business of earning her living is
compelled to deploy her forces in order
to achieve this modest result, and at
the same time hold on to the possession
of her own being. This is a very charm
ing story. The writer has succeeded.
not only in creating a delightful
heroine, but with unerring skill she
sustains her throughout also in the
full consistency of this original crea-
tive act. This is an ingenious and
lovable girl. who is positive that she is
the most fortunate creature in a world
that is none too fine hold the noble
institution of which she is Il very hum
BILE part. This institution is The AL
lance Trust that UNDERWRITERS COM
panies to promote imperial interests.
The girl tells her own story in the
self-confessional of a diary. Here she
pours out her boundless enthusiasm
and her beautiful belief in any num-
. Der of unbeautiful things. notably the
company enshrined in her youthful ador-
alton and also MIR. Richard" set up as
the best and noblest of her heroes. Del
icacy, humor and the atmosphere of
artistry are the qualities that lift this
charming working-girl story out of the
: rut along which the majority of these
plod. and place it in fresh and open
spaces of wind and sun.
THE HOUSE OF MANY MIRRORS. BY
Violet Hunt, author of THE DOLL
etc. New York: Brentanos.
A young husband. An older wife, the
number of whose years is somewhat
reduced by the possession of means and
the grace of personal charm. What
passion there is here is the wife's.
passion to hold the heart of the young
man. The surest way to accomplish
this, according to Rosamond Pleydell,
is to feed his extrayagances. Logically.
therefore, her mind turns pretty COM
pletely toward material ways and
means. The house of many mirrors"
is the inheritance lost to Alfred Fley-
dell upon his marriage with Rosamond
This story sustains itself by the
schemes Of the wife to regain this
sacrificed estate. The outcome is an
unpleasant story that ends hideously.
To be sure, the day is far gone when
the novel must come to happy con-
clusion if 1t expects anything like a
general welcome. On the other hand.
the day is not yet come when 1t must
end miSerably In order to satisfy the
Judges of modern fiction. What one
wishes to say is that the end of a novel
lies in it's beginning. that the charac-
tiers, the situations. the general move
ment are EMBODIED in it's initial impulse.
The quarrel with this story is that 1t is
not all of piece, 1t is not one beau
tiful consistency, whatever the charac-
ter of that consistency may be. Rosa
mond Pleydell is not person. Rather
is she the odds and ends of half
iS
selfish, treacherous. at one moment and
wholly fine and big the next. Certain
.'ly every one has his off times, but they
are of the measure of his on times. The
situations here, too. quarrel too often,
each with itself. The case of Lily and
Baron Jean de Crawhez is one in point.
This case tallies neither with its own
motive, nor with the way men and
women behave under similar circum-
stances. If one is to read an unpleas-
ant book it should have the redeeming
grace of being at least convincing and
believable.
THE SEA-HAWk. By Rafael Sabatini.
Philadelphia: ]. B. Lippincott Com
pany.
Backing this romance are the lusty
Elizabethan days wherein both baron
and buccaneer. both prince and pirate.
found easy accommodation in one and
the same person. Prior to the events
with which this tale opens. its hero. Sir
oliver Tresillian, had sailed the Span
.ish Main with Drake. There his sur
oaSSinQ gifts at OiratinR had won for