New-York tribune., 1919-04-26
The CRICKET BY Marjorie Benton
soohe. Illustrated 81. pages Price
si.oo. Doubleday Page Co.

soose- illustrated. a71 pages Price
Sl.oo' Doubleday Page Co.
Marjorie Benton Cooke herewith
stands accused of having taken up
I,eactlonary pen and immortalized the
decldedly human and terrifvinelv
truthful Isabelle for the express eve-
opening of those conventionallv good
people who still believe children are
brought by long-legged birds and.
5 oncg arrived are conspicuous by their
the social activities Of Wallv Brvce
ana has wife, thereby bringing upon
them all the inconvenience of unwel
come parenthood. to the day she coollv
marrled Larry O'Leary, an irresistible
irish soldier, she insistently and ae
gresslvely made life a round of event
ful mlshaps. Beginning, at the age
o. q, 1our' by accepting with glowing en-
thusiasm the description of barbarians
as gwen by Miss Wilder, an irate and
oVerWrought governess consisting
manly in the statement that they
were savage creatures with no man
ners, no morals, no clothes cven-Isa-
Delle takes life at it's face value.
Forced into a birthday party with
"prissy little brats," whom she char
acterzes as the pink-sashed kind. Isa-
belle takes upon her self the en-
oelllshments-or lack of them-per-
tanning to the scourged barbarians.
and and drops into the party clothed as
MISS Wilder states savages are
Perhaps our sense Of humor is per
verted, but we laugh uproariously at
the picture Miss Benton draws with
few words. Perhaps, remembering our
own rebellious infancy, we laughed
louder and longer than the early
morning diners in our favorite French
pastry shop thought ladv ought.
Out there had been time between
the naIvete Of five and the sophistica-
ton of SIX when, like Isabelle, we had
taken literally the description given by
q governess, and with our loins girded
IN bath towel had invaded the sane
tity OF drawing room coffee with the
announcement that we were John the
Baptist An announcement which, like
lsabelles entry was met with the
silent horror of our parents and the
embarrassed amusement of our pa
rents guests.
Perhaps it is this knack of striking
ar lagous chords in tn mature mem
oory of all adult beings which will insure
tne success of "The Cricket Making
no attempt to apologize for Isabelle 3
atroclous mlsbehavior, which some
now brings a guilty grin of enjoyment
! to the reader, Miss Cooke depicts a
healthy child who develops a keen wit
and ready repartee in order to cope
with the spasmodic interest of two
wholly inefficient and inadequately
equipped parents.
And more gratitude to Miss Cooke
in that she does not sentimentalize
over child left to servants chosen by
telephone, neglected by butterfly
mother who Is frankly without spark
OF material feeling, and adored by a
father who means we'll but just can't
Between WallV Bryce and his irrepres-
slble daughter there is good fellow
ship OF feeling that has in it much
OF amazement on Wally's part and no
reverence on lsahcllo'a. For her
mother the girl consistently manifests
pleasant tolerance and complete
indifference. That Wully and his vito
are rather fond Of each other and have
no unpleasant affairs commonly at
trlhutcd to pooplc of their class ia an-
other mark of Miss Cookies doAarture
from the usual.
Marjorie Benton Cooke was at one
time monologist, She learned the
value Of subtlcties of meaning gained
by few words and implied rather in
what was left unsaid than by what WAS
expressed. In THE Cricket" she uses
this knowledge to advantage, and the
book is an ensemble of clever. mirth-
provoking lines, readable and cx-
hilarating.
From the child beginning to the
grown-up end Miss Cooke depicts in
Isabelle an inordinatcly clever being
who has comfortably human skill for
getting into trouble. Running the first
night for popular actor manager who
has been beguiled into giving the girl
part in his play, dashing into the
wrong stateroom-an error discovered
only because she slipped getting into the
the upper berth and landed on what was
obviously mustachc- and becoming
involved in an affair with a poilu
whom she adopted as a godson-these
are but a few of the accidents which
happen to Isabelle Bryce. The final
denouement Of the story. with the
coming of Larry OLeary is as
fresh and enjoyable as Iabele herself
Altogether, "The Cricket" is like an
unexpected cocktail at a church supper
\. NJ.