The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-08-31
By N. P. D.


it is Phillpotts SIN lighter vein," at least
he has never been in better vein. The
story is genuinely amusing. The heroine,
if You can call Medora Dingle heroine, is
a thoroughly reprehensible young female.
But you would not want to have her
otherwise, and can sympathize with Ned
Dingle when he says, if he takes her back,
he doesn't want changed and chastened
Medora, as in that ease she wouldn't be
Medora.
Medora is one of those fortunate indi-
viduals who have the power of dramatic
ing themselves. Men with this power can
even get enjoyment out of telephone
conversation or a board of directors meet
ing. Medora, By the same power, can en-
joy herself in highly compromising sit
uation. That is, Medora would enjoy her
self if other people would also play-act
and speak their roles properly. But they
don't. When MedOra returns with Kel-
lock after going to London with him she
finds herself in the same humiliating pos
ton as the great man who, returning to
his native village and asking what people
said about him, was told that they "just
laughed" These South Devon people,
however, don't even laugh. 81 suppose it
made bit of a stir, Mrs. Hayman." Ne
dora says to the mistress of the Water
mans Arms.
"What have, my dearf"
ME, running away with Mr.. Kelloek"
"Not that have heard of. There's such
lot of running away nowadays. Though,
as q man said in the bar few nights ago,
there amt much need for most women to
run. They can go their own pace, so long
as it takes 'em away from their lawfuls.
Take my own niece. She married
wheelwright, and ran away with carpen-
ter six months after. And when she did,
far the happiest of them three people was
the wheelwright. Yet the guilty pair, so
to call 'em, thought he'd do dreadful
things; they didn't draw a breath in com
fort till they'd got to Canada and put the
ocean between"
Mrs. Hayman, as a matter of fact,
thinks that marriage is doomed, and that
'these here lifelong partnerships" will not
much longer be able to hold out under
modern conditions. She says to MedOra:
Marriage amt what it was. In my opin-
ion it won't stand the strain much longer.
1t was never built to endure such facilities
for getting about and seeing new faces as
the people have now-let alone the edu-
cation"
Medora does not relish the idea of her
brave and dramatic step being looked
upon as an every day occurrence. To
speak the truth, nothing had come out
quite as she and KellOck had planned.
Ned Dingle, her husband, particularly
had not acted as he should. Kellock, in
his innocence and incorruptible chastity,
had thought it would all be as simple and
cut and dried as it was to the young girl
in Alice Sit-by-the-Fire, who said ''there
were always letters" and the thing to do
was TO go TO the young mans rooms at
night, and, throwing aside your opera
coat, demand the letters kellock says to
Medora:
"You see in these cases, when they get
in the papers, that man and woman
always go to a hotel together; and when
that's proved the other man divorces her
as matter of course That's all there is
to it"
So Medora and Kellock go to some
"GaiertyP hotel in London, much in the
spirit Of The Young Visiters. Kellock is
not so gay as Bernard land that is where
Medora made her mistake), although Me-
dora herself is fully as joyous as Ethel.
But Kellock does tell Medora to take her
choice Of rooms, and that night there is a
little scene reminiscent Of Conrad" when,
if Kellock did not snora, at least it was
NaIoro'- Jonr IarIlo al