The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1916-03-18

4 story far out Of the common run
IN It's theme and its manner Of treat.
ment Is Captain Charles de Cresplgny's
Where tho Path Breaks tThe Gen.
fury Company \ wounded soldier
comes to consciousness man, months
after he has been declared and be-
lleved to be dead. He learns hat the
sirl he loved and had married sud-
denly before starting to the war has
married again. and resolves to dtsap-
peal so as not to disturb her life.
There is n touch Of mysticism in him
hat keeps his spirit in touch with
hers: he feels that she Is mourning
owe him and writes his story as II he
had passed beyond this life In order
to comfort her. After crossing the At
lantic he finds a publisher who prints
his book n she reads IL. So far the
tale has been "a prose poem perfectly
ole. a history of emotions rather than
of facts. The two enter into a corre-
%spondence in which the girl expresses
her love for her lost husband and ex-
plains what has happened, while the
man comforts II encourages her. An
other piece Of faultlessly artistic work.
Finally the two come together again.
In a name not wholly satisfactory.
al they regard for the first time what
others may think. The author makes
his readers feel the greatness and sin
certify OF both the mans and the
woman's love as few have in late
years. and his venture on the border
line between life and death and his
reflections or the war are striking and
thoughtful. 1t is a story that will de-
light all who have any poetry left in
them.
A rather merciless exhibition OF a
most uncomfortable age In its most
painful aspects is made by Booth
Harrington in Seventeen" tHarpers).
What is worse. he calls to his assist
ance hat pit!less observer. a fellows
small sister. His hero goes through
the ordeal of falling in love with n
wretched little flirt, under the observa-
ton. to his annoyance, Of his parents.
hi0 ~neiEhbors, his comrades and his
sharp little sister. none OF whom can
take him seriously. The successive
episodes, which are tragic to him. will
make the reader laugh. He will grow
NsS0 " N"N Ses' ssht ~ pNo
baby talk. he will sympathize with
her unwilling hos. in his desire to get
I'D Of her, he will comm!serate. prob.
ably with dim reco!lections OF his own
experiences. with the unhappy h. 70.
and he will admire the diabol!cal in
genuity and malice OF the too wide
awake small girls. again with mem.
cries OF what others like them made
him suffer. There Is a lot Of uproar-
ious and harmless fun in the hook.
II Is a fine girl that Olive Higgins
Prouty has picked out in THE Fifth
Wheel" Frederick A. Stokes Com
pany) 70 eXpound what the modern
young woman Is after. and she makes
the matter clearer than Mr.. Webster
does with his Adventure" This girl
has had the advantage OF growing up
In the country without much money
tM h Is l6, a normal growth before
wealth comes 10 the family. Then she
10 sent to a fashionable boarding school
and trained by a socially ambitious
sister-in-iaw to make a brilliant mar
riage. The in which she
brings TO terms the dsreputable young
cub who can give her wealth and So
cial position Is amusing, and so Is her
losing fight with his stern mother. She
throws him over and falls in love
with a college professor who under.
takes to train her in his w way.
She revo!ts against that and also
against the plans her family make
for her, and after an eloquent TRADE
"a the wrong way girls are brought
up she goes to New York TO make
q living. She favors woman suffrage,
Of coursa She has "A hard time but Is
helped to succeed After II while she
tires Of her Independent life n yearns
for q home OF her own. By that time
the professor has mixed with the
world and Is ready To meet her on
her own ground. He and the girls
family have to suffer, because the cor
rectness Of the girls ideas must be
demonstrated. 1t IL a spirited and
pleasing story, which shows clearly
what Many young are thinking
of now.
II the reader once gets started on
''The Blind Mans Eyes" by William
MacHarg and Edwin Balmer little
Brown and Company. he will Lot be
satisfied till he has got to the las,
IaEe, WHICH Is tUe vi a iACe
class mystery story. The mystery IL
finally solved by the reasoning powers
Of a blind lawyer. While there may
be an excess Of homicides. from the
moment we step on h train from
Seattle to Chicago, one exciting Incl
dent leads naturally to the next til
the climax is reached. The solution
Is Of sufficient Importance to warrant
the trouble taken In reaching it, which
,s not often the case In mystery tales
Moreover there Is a love story which
also grows naturally and Is interesting
In Itself. The detector Uses logic anc
the facts that are set before thu
reader and not strange intuitive pow
ers. Tho authors have not only
avoided all the common faults OF tales
Of this class hut they a constructed
on artistic story that keeps the reader
constantly interested.
Reform ideas seem to trouble RALPH
y. Paine in 1.-THE Long Road House
(CharleS Scrihner's Sons) to the poin
cf making him spoil the story. 4
spirited account of n Culpable ship
wreck leads 10 a grossly unfair tria
az the officers concerned M som
repininr over the hardship to seafarinI
men. Tn" hero then ships on q coast
ing s"uoOncr, which founders; he !
saved hy an Italian vessel with
eTotS-I 10 captain, which conveys hrn