New-York tribune., 1919-07-19
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Plot Menus

NA'NAS 40 ilO4c III tulS autnUI > eau
ing than the mere recitation of the
menu. Tell me what they ate and
Will tell you the plot, and will not stop,
either, at such axioms that if there
is veal pie it is Dickens, and if there
is blackberry cordial and mayonnaise
it is Mary Roberts Rinehart
This is a study which bears the most
extensive investigation and would be
Justified if mere scholarly satisfac-
ton did not suffice, for the promise it
holds out of system by which one
may have ones story without reading
1T. 1t is godsend to the busy. week
ender who hates to offend his host by
refusing to read the best book on the
veranda. One who is skilful in the use
of this get-fiction-quick system can
turn nimbly to the menu. 1t is sure
10 be either in the second or third
chapter, when he or she are get
ting acquainted, or in the next to the
last chapter, just before sunset, and by
noting the viands and method of their
serving one can instantly detect the
plot and save himself the trouble of
reading the rest of the book.
Here are two simple exercises for
the beginner:
/. "Crisp, golden trout, fried on the
glowing Goals, and served with laugh
on the end of forked stick, and soda
biscuits, whose snowy hearts held a
strange fragrance of balsam smoke,
"a < hn6 H. Ex-+ al of
the running stream and for dessert a
handful of wild strawberries, crimson
and sweet as no berries at 81 a por-
ton had ever tasted at Delmonico's.
Frances pretended to be ashamed of
her enormous appetite, but secretly
she was proud of it, and allowed her
self to be served with one fragrant
morsel after another, just for the
pleasure it afforded the man."
Answer: Frances is engaged to a
millionaire, but in spirit of rebel
lion one day allowed herself to be taken
on hike by the handsome young en-
gineer who is building her fathers new
railroad. She has sprained her ankle
camp until very late in the evening
long enough for him to tell her the
story of his life and to wcan her really
fine young soul away from the empty
luxuries which have hitherto satisfied
her, and in Chapter 20 she marries
him.
II. "a few moments later Madame
appeared, all smiles, to usher them
to the terrace, where dazzling view
of the winding river was spread at
their feet, and before their hungry
eyes was spread snowy table with a
blushing little maid ready to serve
them. The meal was simple, but deli
clous, with clear, hot soup, and golden
chicken, eXquisitcly broiled, and crisp
salad from the kitchen garden beyond
the rose arbor, and cheese such as only
the French can make The wine was
a fine old Burgundy"--
Answer: This is from an automobile
voyage through France, and the hero
may be a lord in disguise, but if he
isn't, he is an ex-lieutenant of the A.
4. F., who has come to France looking
for the mysterious and lovely comtesse
who nursed him after his aeroplane
fell into the chateau garden. He has
found her just before dinner time.
The advanced course in fiction die
tctics is concerned with tea and toast;
Tor strange as it may seem, the most
simple menu is the most difficult to
classify. 1t is eaten with equal relish
in the happy -go-lucky tales of P. G.
Wodehouse, and in the tragic ro-
mances of H. G. Wells and John Gals
worthy. The student here must take
note of the style and atmosphere of
the narrative, as we'll as of the actual
manner and extent of the meal. No
week end will be safe without this
skill, however difficult to acquire, for
even as bread is the staff of life, so
is tea and toast the stuff of which
romance is bred. EMMA BUGBEE.
Must Books
To the list of books which one
hasn't the effrontery to admit not hav-
ing read add Don Quixote," "Robin-
son Crusoe," "Paradise Lost" pride
and Prejudice" Bacon's Essays, and
Freud's "Analysis of Dreams"
And then there are the books which
one can't admit knowing. "Three
Weeks for instance, or that delight
full scientific work, "One Hundred
Ways of Kissing a Girl" R.A.S.
Youth in Quest of Conrad
The venerable "Atlantic" this month
in its Contributors Column SAYS of
William McFee, author of "Casuals of