Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1917-03-04
REVIE w OF
BOOKS
AN THE WILDERNESS.

u huntress of men-these inform
the pages of In the Wilder
ness" the new book by Robert Kitchens,
Following what is a custom with
him, Mr.. Hichens has gone abroad from
his own England to lay the psychologist
foundations Of his story. 1t Is in Mi
Ian that Dion Leith, homeward bound,
first sees and instantly loves Rosamund
Everard. But he is fresh from the isles
of Greece, warm with affection for the
classic land, and from the earliest
pages of "In the Wilderness" we feel
the Grecian atmosphere strongly in the
story and about those met at Milan.
Later when Rosamund and Dion are
welded, they pass their honeymoon
chiefly at Athens, discussing amid the
ruins of the Parthenon the mysteries
they are to unfold together. Before the
wonderful Hermes Of Olympia they
confirm their vow that the boy who is
to be theirs some day shall be Doric
in his bringing UP. Altogether 1t is an
idyllic period Of happy leisure for a man
who dreams and loves, and for a wo-
man whose dreaming can overrule for
the time the truth that she is not yet
wholly in love.
The honeymoon over, Dion and Ros-
amund go reluctantly back to London.
And there Cynthia Clarke is in wait, a
slender, haggard woman with a name
less charm, defendant in a divorce suit
involving two correspondents, appeal
ing mysteriously to sympathies of men,
sheltered by the unfortunate silences
of her own sex, Cynthia's big eyes turn
observantly upon Leith the moment he
is In her presence. She has come from
Constantinople and is full of the ador-
alton of STEAMBOAT. Leith has reason 10
remember afterward his PRESIDENT, hat
red Of the Turkish capitol.
One may not make here a long story
of how Dion is driven into the net of
Cynthia. 1t comes about after the
South African War. During Dion's
presence Rosamund has taken refuge
in rural England near to q religious
environment that has always attracted
her. The boy is with her in his lisping
years. She is remembering the Doric
vow. With her Robin and her church
she is not lonesome. Yet when her
husband hurries back to her, his SER
vice done, she is ready for his will
Then falls calamity. A day at the birds
for the soldier; a pony and his first
day in the field for little Robin; a shot
an uncontrolled movement of the pony
and little boy dying in his fathers
arms.
The fact that Rosamund does not
love Dion becomes at this crisis of first
Importance. Lock the door!" she
cries, fleeing from the garden where
her stricken husband has told his story
That mans killed Robin! Keep him
out!" And so breaking the heart Of
Dion, Rosamund drives him to Cynthia,
who proposes to murder his soul. The
sequent events and the conclusion we
leave to be revealed by our author
alone. But the finale is placed IN
Greece at the temple Of Hermes.
1t is a searching study of hearts
and souls, of manhood and of woman
hood and its variants that Mr.. HIGH
Ems conducts in the many pages of III
the Wilderness" His story is marve-
ously deep in understanding and grave
In import, yet through it's wealth Of
incident and of detail it moves with an
ease which often gives the impress Of
quickness. Interest in constant cur
rent is, Of course, the real accelerator
Mr.. Hichens has taken the time, the
space and the thought required for the
development of a large and vital theme
and his readers have reason to be glad
of his elaboration.