Evening star., 1917-03-25
REGIMENT OF WOMEN. BY Clemence
Ia lie. ~
Company

HEGIMENJ OF " "ohEN. KY C4Si!leNte
Dane. New York: The Macmillan
Company.
- AVE for Il single man INTRODUCED
at the last moment in the sud
den capacity of lifeline and
~ rescue. this is a book full OF
women. An English school for
girls is the colorless medium for a
quite remarkable study of that ab-
sorptive type of human which. long
ago. gave rise TO the vampire super
stition. What the medium lacks in
color, however, it makes up in an 9th
erwise rich adequacy for the projection
of this character. An inherently cruel
souisuckins woman, sexless after a
fashion and sugared over with sweet
looks and manners, is an instrument
of the devil, when. as teacher, she
doles out happiness or suffering TO
young pupils of her own sex The
record of such a situation is simply
another version of the wolf and the
lambs. 1t is an unattractive theme, one
also that does not settle well into the
story framework. Rather is it the
subject for Investigation and reform
propaganda. and AS such ii is likely to
fall under the disability of distortion
and unba lance. 1t is here that this
writer scores triumph. Through d
routine of school life that is recos
nlzabiy true at every point. the de-
EastatinB influence of this woman be
comes apparent rather through the
readers own sense of values than by
amy effort Of the writer to emphasize
that influence. The story merely lives
its daily way into ones consciousness
deriving it's strong effect from this fact
II is j natural and at the same time a
very subtle development. The un-
doubted Importance of the book lies III
ITS frank consideration of what the
teaching profession in its small but
absolute power is able to do TO the
character Of the teacher himself and
what ii is able to do moreover through h
this rather natural seIf-exaItation 10
the hearts and souls of the pupils also
THE TIGERS COAT. BY Eliza beth D.,
Jeans, author of The Life Build
ers. etc. Illustrations by Arthur /
Keller. Indianapolis: The Bobbs-
Merrill Company.
Against middle-West ackground-
Nebraskan, 10 be eXact-t,lizab beth Tie
Jeans projects The adventures of tho
vivid young woman who, by Virtue of
a generally tawny appearance figures
under this title. \ Belgian refugee ac-
quainted with wandering life in Fu
rope, and of an earlier familiarity with
Mexico, where, indeed, vague India n
is OF Il quality TO set any mere Ameri
"a town into a good deal of an ,,nrosr
This she proceeds to do in an atmos
phere or mystery that the writer han
dies with consummate skill and ad-
nirable effect. What, in the beainnine
and for d considerable time past thai
point. looks remarkably like the
smoothest and most adrot of adventure
esses turns out, after ALL to he an in
nocent and Wlnsome girl Of strong and
single hearted affections. 1t is a veil
developed story. whose best bit of work
is a character sketch. This is NOT the
complex character of the heroine who
is SO incredibly involved from outside
appearances as to make her a shade
unbelievable. 1t is. on the contrary 1he
wife of the young artist who attaches
hlmself TO the heroine's train that
draws the writer's most competent ar
tistrS This woman is quite within
ones daily reach She is. first and fore
most. a jealous woman She ia her
she is prodigiously Interested in his
success, but 1t must come her way. anu
not his. Upon this foundation Of char
acter the writer does a nota BILE piece
of work. And almost as we'll but not
quite. does she deal with the other peo-
pie III TINS story. The story itself as a
movement toward given point is we'll
organized just as il is embodied in an
interesting set of incidents and scenes
THE CYCLE: OF SPRING. By Sir Rab
indranath Tagore, author of ''Gitan-
IaH, etc. New York: The Macmil-
Ian Company
Universal youth. with it's joy and
laughter and love and song, is beau
tiful theme for drama. And when to the
loyely qualify Of the thsrnS jt5aE il