Evening star., 1921-08-28

By Albert BigeloW Paine, author
Of The Ship-Dwellefe." etc. Draw.
Harper 4 Brothers.
THE Jacket cover says. 1.-THE
, Car That Went Abroad" And
We said, "A war book. Of
course. Another war book!'
So, We slipped It down to the bot.
tom Of the pile to wait for . more
propitious day. We should most cer-
tainly have read the real title with Its
subtitle. Tho latter tells the story.
Motoring Through the Golden Age
and that is exactly what the adven-
ture is. The surprise and relief over
this discovery help to shape the JOY
Gus spirit with which We climb into
that car at Marseflle ready to go
along. There are four people in It
already-the owner, Narcissa. age
fifteen; "the JOY" ten, and 1.-THE head
of the family" The Midi Is the ex-'
cursion land-to AK and Aries. to
Avignon and across to Grenoble. and
up into the Alps and down and around
to pick up neglected spots, and hnal-
ly of to the east again with the Black
however, in old Provence. There we
go from enjoyment to enjoyment In
the company of these easy folks VINO
get into warm and immediate touch
with anything and anybody along the
way. They picnic by the roadside.
car, as they should. They saunter
along, the car does, in sun and rain;
they stop at the least nod OF tne
spirit to do SO. and. in every imasin-
able way soak up the joys OF that de-
lectable journey through the golden
age. All this was before the war
Just before. The considerable with
holding of this book till the present
serves to remind the reader OF peace
full, sunny, golden days for France
and to bridge ever, for the momen.'
it's recent torn ana Anguished years.
And then the great adventure Is over.
The folks are back home. And when
l pushed back the wide door. drove
into the barn, cut OF the engine, and
in the dim winter light saw our
accustomed place, I had the curious
feeling of never having been away at
all, but only for a winters drive.
dreaming under dull skies OF summer
time and France. And the old car
that to us had always seemed to have
a personality and sentience-had it
been dreaming too? 1t was cold ana
growing dark. I came out and locked
the door. We had made the circuit
our great adventure was over. WouId
go again under the same conditions!
Ah, me! That wakens still another
dream-for days ahead. l suppose
one should not expect more than one
real glimpse OF heaven in this World'
but at least one need not give up
hoping" That is the way he writes
1t ali. Delightful? Surely all Of that.
PERSONAL MEMOIRS OF THE
0a1S,,I.! HONE LEE F % OF .,rare TaEoT0hE GorsE
Cheney. Washington: The Cheney
Publishing Company.
1t is the intimacy of these sketches
of Theodore Roosevelt that gives this
little book very real place In the
Roosevelt literature. Its author was
at one time editor of the Oyster Bay
Pilot. He and Mr.. Roosevelt were
neighbors, sharing alike in many Of
the activities of the community. It
is from this short range that most OF
these incidents arise. 1t Is Roosevelt.
the friendly neighbor. the unassuming
villager, the fine man and good fellow
that, in the main. appears here. To
be sure, many of his larger activities
come into this record, but these are
already common property. 1t Is Tor
the numberless little, views OF the
great American that Mr.. Cheney's vol
ume will be treasured, and for which
readers are now in debt to this neigh
borly historian.
ESSAYS; Speculative and Political. By
Arthur James Balfour. NJ. A. F. X.
s., LII. D., author of ''Theism and
Humapism," etc New York: George
n Doran Company.
The ten essays Of this volume were
written during the nine years follow
ing 1908. Logically they gather into
two groups. The first one deals with
cultural themes, the second one with
political relations. An authoritative
scholarship, a mellowed wisdom. and
a ripened judgment cover them all.
Within the first group there is dis
cussion of decadence-that decadence
historic NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. is to So
cieties what senility is to man. and is
often. like senility, the precursor and
the cause of final dissolution" There
Is in this group, also, a discussion of
beauty, its content. its laws. and it's
lawful estimates and criticism. Berg
sons creative evolution is the theme
address to the Psychical Research So
ciety stands as another one. In the
second group the political themes
have to do with Anglo German rela-
freedom of the seas and the founda-
tions of durable peace are the most
important and timely of the discus
a considerable body Of discussion-all
Of 1t informing and interesting, much
of 1t of immediate and substantial
bearing upon present world questions.
THE GOLDEN ANSWER. BY Sylvia
Chatf1eld Bates, author of 1.-The
Vintage" etc. New York: The Mac
milan Company.
Right at the doorstep Of this ad-
venture you will be met by man and
a little girl. Your chief aim, there
after, will be not to lose sight Of this
pair. for not again, soon, will you be
lucky enough to share 80 joyous a
comradeship. Such elaborate secrets
and then. finally. share! Such guess
ing games as they invent! Such fairy
tales as they, in equal partnership.
little cottage set in its mite of a
garden. Harmony is an adorable
little girl. but she is no more lovable
to be a whole family to this child Of
mysterious origin. There are other
people in the adventure. And there
is a proper love story with the regu-
lation l:,ti heights A and nd depths The real
friendship that the author has so
beautifully made to exist between the
grown man-a real man. too-and
grace about the whole that is VERY Very
captivating. One might wonder why
authors SO generally search for cryp-
tic titles-but this is not the place for
that.
SCARAMOUCEE. BY Rafael Sabatint.
Boston: Houghton Miffiin Company.
This is a romance of the French
revolution. The setting Is more than
picture Of France at that period. It
of the sharp social contrasts which,
near the close Of the eighteenth CEN