Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-07-28

There is none" said l, but Larry
Greene Miss Browns hero, is sort of
an American Mr. Britling. He was
quicker than Britling in seeing what the
war meant, and its moral uplift also
seized him more quickly The world had
not been kind to him, and when he was
afraid to face his burdens he would hang
a little flag outside of the house where
he lived alone as a signal that he was
not 20 be disturbed, and then he drowned
himself In drink But when the Germans
invaded Belgium, when, as he put 1t, the
reptiles came up from the bottomless pit
and began to spawn in the sunlight and
defile the world, he decided that IT was
time for decent men to hold their heads
up. act like men and be true to the high.
est that they knew He tries to arouse
his neighbors to an interest in the war,
but 1t is uphill work. Then when an op.
portunity comes to marry the young girl
he loves the new soul in him is tested.
With fine spirit of self-sacrifice he de-
nes himself and saves the girl as the
mate of young man nearer her own
age. The young man runs away from
home, mere boy in moral development
goes to France and enlists in the Foreign
Legion. Within a year he returns on
furlough. The great experiences through
which he has passed in the trenches have
made man of him. and the girl, who has
been dreaming of a lover. recognizes him
as her hero as soon as she sees him on
his return. He had wooed her in vain be.
fore his departure. She had married his
brother, to please his mother, just before
he got back. The girl, who will not live
with her husband, fees for refuge to a
New England spinster The spinster tells
ner that before the war she might have
helped her to flight with the man of her
choice, but that now, when she had be,
gun to see the necessity Of respecting the
higher moralities, she can only advise her
to wait until the tangle can be unraveled
in an orderly manner"
"She must have been curious girl to
marry a man she did not love" said
Dorothy.
"She is as curiously interesting a char.
acter as has appeared in recent fiction"
said |. Miss Brown makes her sort of
a New England Diana, virginia. as the
snow on mountain peak, with loyal !
trusting and generous heart. When love
comes to her it overwhelms her and she !
cares not who knows it. There has always |
been frankness in her attitude toward !
her friends that shows her to be of the !
rarest purity. Ellen Brock, that is her
name, will delight YOU And Larry |
Greene, the mature man who loves her |
and protects her. is Il character whom |
any writer might be proud of creating |
With all his faults he is a worthy citi.
zen, because his heart Is sound and his |
responsive"
'Is the book the first American war |
novel?" owen asked |
1T is not the first in which the war
has figured, but it is the first one in |
which any adequate attempt has been
made to describe how the Americans of |
fine fiber have felt about the war since it |
started and it is done so we'll that 1t is
worthy to be compared with the best war
novels written in England"
THE material for another war novel |
may be developing right here among u.s." |
said Doctor McFabre with a glance at |
Dorothy
ut is developing all over the country" |
said l. But who has the eyes to see it |
and the wit to write down what he sees?" |
Perhaps I will try" said Ames.
"Will it be autobiographical?" asked |
Owen, but before Ames could answer |
Dorothy had risen in confused haste and |
carried her brother off with her.
GEORGE w DOUGLAS.
BROMLEY NEIGIIRoRHoOD. by Alice Brown.
author OF Tho Prisoner" New York: The
Macmillan Company, Sl5O.