Evening star., 1918-01-27
THE OLD. FRONT LINE. BY John
Masefield. author Of "Gallipoli," etc.
New York: The Macmillan Company.

THE OLD FAONT LINE BY JOnn
Masefield. author Of "Gallipoli," etc.
New York: The Macmillan Company.
-0HIs is the Zine" at which. in
the summer Of 1916, the battle
Of the Somme began. It is,
as well. the line from which
the German army was forced
back. releasing to France by this re-
treat 4 strip Of her own soil that
stretched away for seventy-flve miles,
at a width varying from ten to twenty.
i've miles A historic line. But. pres
again, and tourists will walk at ease.
where brave mon ran and lodged and
cursed their luck when the battle Of
the Somme was raging" 1t is to seize
this famous battle line and to hold it
fast in its original pattern that Mr..
Aasef1eld sets 1t out here in such pre-
cision Of extent and direction, in such
clear definition Of the face Of the coun-
try traversed by it. Of the roads lead
ing to It. of the hamlets and farms
neighboring It. This guide is designed
to be Of use to the future writer and
traveller. to pilgrims. also, irresistibly
1mpelled to searching along this fate
full line of their own bereavement Ex-
act as is this description, suitable as
1t is to fulfill its purpose as map and
dependable guide. 1t is much more than
this. For the roads SO carefully laid
down here are choked with war traffic.
The trenches are alive with moving
soldiers. At points the nether-world
widens to storehouses Of war stuff, to
Information bureaus, to directive CEN
ters of immediate war work. In a
word. one finds himself at the heart of
the activities and anxieties that led up
to the battle of the Somme. The vivid
and eloquent and gripping story ends
with that awful week when the Eng
lish let hell loose in the pandemonium
Of shell nre that tortured the nerves
Of the enemy over the strangely de-
past seven. the mines at half a dozen
points went up with a roar that shook
the earth and brought down the para
pets in our lines. Before the black
lon. the hand Of Time rested on the
half-hour mark. and along all that old
front line OF the English there came q
whistling and a crying. The men Of
the frst wave climbed up the parapets,
in tumult. darkness and the presence
Of death. and having done with all
pleasant things. advanced across the
no mans land to begin the battle Of
the Somme." A great story, q vivid
and powerful picture.
just OUTSIDE. By Stacy Aumonisr,
author Of Olga Bardel." etc. New
York: The Century Company.
In q few minutes, at the longest,
ono knows whether the novel that he
has in hand Is a piece Of real work.
manship. or whether It Ii one Of those
clap-trap. make-shift affairs that. by
some unknown hocus-pocus. writars
and pubnshers agree to call q novel.
within a dossn pages Of "Just Outside
the reader II keenly conscious that this
n q real nove-one that has q central
idea that u going 70 keep the course
Of this Development well IN hand from
start to finish. He 10 conscious, too.
- he follows along here In . state Of
aestful enjoyment, that every piece Of
material here IL needed and Is occu-
pying Its right place-doing Its bit
toward the dramatic and realistic prog
ress Sof the theme itself Fine and
satisfying work. The story7 It 10 the
aGagx eG . boz es ono q kheeo n1mss.