Evening star., 1918-07-28


steps straight into ones in
terest and affection. In sum,
- 1t is an idyl Of the Latin
quarter, one that the war
has brought to the surface. Mimi is a
painters model. born into the trade,
fnheritor in full of the traditions of
the quarter. Jacques Vabre is her
painter. One happy year have the
two lived together In the artists
Latin-quarter bond of wedlock. With
IN that year wondrous picture has
grown. promise OF innocent country
delights when 1t shall have been ex-
changed for the number Of francs re-
Guired for this delecta BILE adventure.
Ihen the war comes. And Jacques
receives the green slip of paper sum-
moning him to service on the eighth
day after its receipt. The story opens
with this mobilization slip and moves
forward at once to cover the eight
days Of pretended tranquility on the
part OF the two. and to count the
sorrowful bravery of those days of
waiting. Beyond this point the little
osoAJ SNAS VI NHc Suuko6C VI
Of her new and lahorious varieties
of work-for Mimi refuses to be a
model. save for Jacques-of the baby
that comes and of Minis pure exalta-
tion that she, has borne a son for
France against the day of Frances
need for sons. One partakes of the
Joy Of Mimi and Jacques that the
story ends in a glow of temporary
happiness upon the occasion Of
jacques short relief from fine serv-
ice while an ugly wound is mending.
Quite outside the boundaries of con-
vention though 1t be, the theme of
the little story exalts love and stead
fastness and courage. These qualities,
under the stress Of war. blossom into
vention, rather than in any conscious
defiance of social regulations. In
convincing fidelity it reports again
that all along the line, regardless OF
rank or caste or standing. the beau
ties and exaltations Of human nature
are budding and blossoming out OF
the darkness of this unspeakable
present. The little story is exquisite
both in its conception and in its por-
trayal.
THE: TWILIGHT OF THE SOULS. By
Souls" etc. Translated by Ale3an-
der Teixeira de Mattos. New York:
Dodd, Mead & Co.
Louis Couperus is a naturalist of
souls. He chooses these as his field
of adventure rather than the sur
face areas of human behavior which
serve, almost, to conceal the souls
of men. This is the third novel in
this Dutch authors experiment in
souls. Its theme is the lonely soul of
later life, the one that is well along
the way in its earth journey, bereft
with the double loneliness of the van
fishing preoccupations of this life and
the strange adventure upon which it
is facing. The medium of this novel,
SO unusual in theme and so mastery
in workmanship, is Dutch family
whose members are bearing, each.
upon the awful loneliness with which
the story Is saturated, almost to the
himself. Through the commonplace
events of family life-just the usual
run of domestic things treated to
method of realism that lifts one, bod
lily. over into the midst of them-the
theme outcrops here and there Curl
Gus idiosyncrasies in one, strange
self-questionings in another. near
madness in another, the isolation of
age In the mother of them all
these are the avenues through which
the author makes this astounding
study whose effect upon one is alto
gether sinister. This effect is due
to the completeness with which the
reader Identifies himself with one OF
aApther aspect of this theme. And
identify himself he must, for this is
~Ais own story-done in terms of
Dutch life, it is true, but his own
story. nevertheless. A true intuition
searched out this theme and a true
artistry developed it. Like Maeter-
linck, Couperus refuses to deal with
Unlike the former. however. who
glamours his themes a bit with the
forms of allegorical drama, or meta
physical discussion, Couperus uses a
Photographic painstaking with de-
tails to objectify this fugitive theme.
You will not like this story. 1t is too
terribly true. But you cannot help
paying admiring tribute to the genius
that developed 1t.
THE PRETTY LADY. BY Arnold
Bennett, author of THE Old Wives
Tale" etc. New York: George ii.
Doran Company.
II one is to take The Pretty Lady"
in it's open and very obvious intent,
he is forced to the unhappy conclu-
sion that the war has taken the pins
out Of London society. leaving So
ciety quite out of its, clothes, really
in state Of nature as to its actual
social behaviors. To be sure the
story, upon its face, deals in the
main with the liaison OF a respectable