Evening star., 1920-04-04
Reviews of New Books

ly. an M. p. works a dazzling mono.
gram upon the fecund imagination OF
this ambitious hero. In his trium
phant progress you may be sure that
a good deal of actual man stuff falls
| of. leaving with Sam a quite inferior
to speak of Anne Branstone, the
mother of Sam. who is as much OF a
person as her remarkable son, one
upon whom the author has put a so,
licitous care equal to that bestowed
upon the hero himself. Anne Bran
stone is we'll worth any ones while.
| Indeed. it is Anne who helps to save
Sam before he goes completely over
| to the devil of worldly ambition. Anne
and another woman--and that woman
| not Sans wife at all. Poor Ada
couldn't have helped any one. She was
! too busy helping herself to more
clothes and more food and more go
| ing about. And right here. in Sans
| salvation. lies the immoral touch to
this remarkably convincing novel. Or
is ii immoral? 1t is difficult to say
However. everybody must settle tha'
! for himself. but he must be sure to
read the story, since it is SO fine q
piece of realistic invention.
i THE OUTLAW. BY Maurice Hew-
lett. author of THE Forest Low
ers." etc. New York: Dodd, Mead
& Co.
Maurice Hewlett has pretty definite
| ly pre-empted the Norseman's coun-
| try. And for many years now, he
has delved in it's fields Of legend and
turn II from hand to hand for weight
| and size and use, has. no doubt. given
him substantial pleasure. What con-
Germs us here Is the next step, how
| ever-that of redeeming the heart
Of this find to current uses without
soil from which it sprung. The book
in hand is only another case of the
habitual occupation of this far -farer,
who might himself have been a
nesses of the twentieth century, This
equally big women, of hard living.
Of straight thinking and equally
straight doing. of wide sea fields to
test the heart of the sailor, with
much that is brutal. with tenderness
itself wearing the garments of stern
authority. An Iceland saga forms the
foundation Of this tale, to which Mr..
Hewlett adds. as he always does add,
the substance and colors and con-
facts that make It appeal to the pres
cnt with exhilarating power.
sHEILA INTERvENEs. BY Stephen
McKenna, author of Sonia" etc.
New York: George H. Doran Com
pany.
Whether or not women are more
partial to playing the role of provi-
dence than men are is a point for
argument. Certain 1t Is, however,
that. having chosen this role. women
prove to be much more providence.
like in the general inconsequence and
| unreason of their manifestations.
nance whose appeal lies largely In
the keenness and variety of it's sus-
penses. Mr.. McKenna did well to
cast Sheila Farling to the part OF
destiny for the chief characters con-
cerned in this adventure. To be sure.
up to the very last minute sheila
goes wrong-wrong in her percep-
tions and methods and achievements.
But she Is most engagingly wrong.
A young Irishman-Denys Playfair-
turns out to be the center Of her
activities. To help Denys to success
in life and in love. this is her mis-
sion. An Irishman. Denys has private
and public wars of his own to prose-
cute. He troubles Sheila. but he does
not daunt her. She picks him out a
wife with one hand and scourges his
warped ambitions with the other. Ev-
erybody knows, save Sheila herself.
where his real mate is, but this fact
does not come into the open till the
modern young goddess has pretty
nearly wrecked the corner Of Eng
The story is for entertainment. So
it Is clever and gay-both of these
in marked degree-absorbing ones
attention with situations that are
full of life and go. and with people
that are clearly calculated. each in
on the alert for the next things that
they are likely to say and do. most
enjoyable story.
vyEnu MIG PAL Rv Harold Rind-
-. loss, author of Partners Of the
* Outtrail," etc. New York: Fred
erick A. Stokes Company.
The love Of man for man raised to the
nth power-David and Jonathan. Damon
and Pythias, brought up to date and set
| in circumstance not too remote-this is
the foundation upon which Mr.. Bindloss
builds a new adventure. The west coast
| Of Africa and the borders Of the Carib-
bean provide the stage of more than one
| weird scene wherein trade OF a ques-
| tionable lawfulness brings into contact
native negro. mixed Spanish overload
these two English youths, and a back
ground Of shadowy figures that blend
Imysteriously with the tropic vegetation
itself A good-size mystery in the form
! of sorcerer of mulatto appearance
/ goes back to earlier trading wickedness
of this region and comes out here to
/ touch one of the white men in a vital
and vulnerable point. To see his friend
through this dangerous business is the
| task of one Of these Englishmen. The
business itself lifts to the ambitious de-
signs of the principal person in the
story. It is all adventure with a good
handling Of mystery and uncertainty
admirably sustained by the atmosphere
and setting Of the enterprise in out-of-
the-way and spooky corners of the
world. A love story plays second to the
main action. The sea-faring of the tale
is Of exceptional excitement and interest