The New York herald., 1921-10-30

/ ~
~ the level very sharply she
stopped 1t was as if hand
/ had caught her back. For suddenly
there rose up before her a figure SO
strange that for a moment she felt al
most like a scared child. 1t sprang
from the bushes and stood facing her
ture, neither man nor boy, misshapen,
grotesquely bumped, possessing long
thin arms of almost baboonlike proper
tons. The head was sunken into the
shoulders. 1t was flung back and the
face upraised-and it was the face
that made her pause, for it was the
most pathetic sight she mad ever
looked upon. 1t was the face of q lad
of two or three and twenty, but drawn
in lines SO painful so followed, so
piteous. that fear melted into compass
sion at the sight. The dark eyes that
stared upward had a frightened look
mingled with a certain defiance. He
stood barefooted on the edge of the
! cliff, clenching and unclenching his
bony hands, with the air of culprit
awaiting sentence"
This is the boy who has kept Dick IN
the tiny fishing and mining town, this
misshapen brother who adores him, and
whom he loves with a great love al
most like a mothers for her crippled
offspring.
1t is the cripple, Robin, who sees
Juliet first. Shortly after that she
meets Dick and the real story begins.
Yes, this is an obstacle race-not
only for Juliet and Dick but for the
squire and his wife. In fact. the road
is full of obstacles, but as they appear
in definite form both Dick and Juliet
take the thing at full gallop and
clear it before you know where you
are"
Lord Saltash advises Juliet. when
it comes to an obstacle race there are
three courses open to you. Either you
refuse to jump and drop out-which
is usually the safest thing to do. Or
you take the thing at full gallop and
clear it before you know where you
are. Or you go at 1t with weak
heart and come to grief / dor't ad-
/
as well as being beastly humiliating."
Saltash is an old friend from Lon
don. And his value becomes evident
when Juliet takes the last hurdle and
does not find Dick waiting for her
there. Despite all Saltash's angles Of
speech we had to like him very much.
He proved a friend in the end. both to
Juliet and to Dick.
Robin. is one of the big obstacles, so
ne thinks and so everybody else thinks
except Juliet and Dick. Yet Robin
proves "the great friend"--even to his
own brother!
'Ill try to take you as I find you
and-make the best of you. But. to be
quite honest, / am rather afraid of the
hard side of you. 1t is so very un-
compromising. If ever come up
against it-I believe 1 shall run away!"
so Juliet told Dick. Every one in the
book came up against Dicks hard side.
Every one was hurt by 1t to some ex-
tent, but Dick was honest-he was
just and he loved his friends. Life
had not led him into any rosy side
paths beside the straight way. The
man had made himself what he was.
4 itOidihS SHlclu DtIWttH Ills OWH nedTI
and the world
Mrs Rickett, at whose house Juliet
stayed when she first left London for
a rest, knows the life of the town and
she imparts her information lavishly.
| London! It's like a great wheel
that is never still. They Cthe
people there) just tear about from
morning till night and very often from
night till morning. Every one is al
ways trying to get first and to be a
little smarter than any one else. They
think they enjoy 1t. But they really
don't. It's such a whirl, such a strain
like always running at top speed in
race and never getting there. Yes,
it's just that--a sort of obstacle race,
and the obstacles always getting high
er and higher and higher Well, I've
done with 1t, Robin. I'm not going to
| get over any more. I've dropped out.
I'm going to grow old in comfort"
In this story Miss Dell has given us
her most attractive heroine. Dick
Green and Lord Saltash are by far the
best male characters she has ever por-
trayed in her books
The story is n new type for Miss
| Dell. There Is a cleverly protected
mystery, unveiled only in the last
pages: but more important than plot.
her people are modified in their devel-
opment by love, by friendship. by the
drawing out of the inherent good and
tenderness in every soul.
We are sure that readers who have
liked Miss Delrs other work will well
come this book even more than the
earlier novels that made her popular.
for in this there is emotion, there is
suspense-but there Is a new note.
We think THE Obstacle Race" will
outlive her other books, for into It she
seems to have put more of the big
stuff''-if you know what we meant