Evening star., 1921-11-13

! between Maj. De~mot. hero Of this
adventure. and Badshah, the elephant,
The setting t. in part. :. The junsis i,ts l
military service where constant u2ris-
ings among the natives engage the
ritish outposts Of india MAI. Der
not is a soldier. He 10 also big game
hunter in the. tungies. In one OF these
is urgent and exciting. The atlnos-
phere, In either case. sustains the exotlc
life that Is portrayed A romance de.
| velops. slowly and subordinately, along
with the vital course Of the adventure.
Animating every step Of this, directing
'bination Of the nan. and the animal
the sober. unassuming soldier who
through the amazingly intelligent CO.
operation Of Badshah in more than one
moment of imminent danger comes to
phant god" before whom they PROSTATE
themselves. In. fear and worsfiip. AZ
adventure this Is a SURPRISING book
One leaves it quite in love with both
Badshah and the major.
THREE SOLDIERS. BY John Do.
Passos. author Of "One Mans Ini
tiation." etc. New York: George H
Doran Company.
John Dos ssos has a mission.
Three Soldiers" embodies 1t. He has,
also. tremendous energy. and hery
feelings. and q passion for digging
the grain Of truth out Of clumps of
waste. All Of this, .and more, he
hurls, by way of this new novel, upon
the war machine that gathers up the
youth of county and sacrifices 1t to
the worn-out traditions Of an estab-
lished order. He is speaking for this
youth. or so he seems to be speaking.
The three soldiers who deliver the
message Of Passos are Of the rank
and file. The glory OF the career, II
ardors Of discipline, petty persecu-
tions. small duties. deadly. routine.
personal discomfort, revolving asso-
Citations. that ones country fades
away. ones duty takes on new fea-
lures; ones pride Is buried under the
Of these three is followed by this
fiery writer to the smallest Of hts
possible hardshipk It Is q one-sided
picture? Perhaps. Certainly the su-
thor has not overdfawn the side that
soldiers, too, will say that II has quite
another side: one, too. that is as real
as this altogether narrowing one. Az
a matter Of fact, young soldierS have
already come to the front In refuta-
that 1t is unbalanced, prejudiced. ex-
tr.vagant. 1t is, nevertheless, live
and biting thing.
DAUGHTER OF THE sun. By Quien
Sabe. New York: Charles Scribner's
Sons.
A treasure hunt lies at the root Of
this strenuous ana exciting adven-
ture. Somewhere off the west coast
Of Mexico, so the story ran. was q
fabulous store Of gold and silver, Of
priceless Jewels and carven vessels,
secreted by Montezun1a II. at the ap-
proach of the Spaniards under Cortez.
early in the sixteenth century. From
that day to this innumerabie ex-
petitions had set out In great secrecy
to discover the treasure. Our story
has to do with a couple Of American
adventurers come upon the selfsame
errand. One Of them chances to be
young enough and good-looking
enough to serve as both hero and
adventurer The two find the neigh
borhood Of their quest already pre-
empted. Here is tho point At which
the daughter Of the sun" makes an
appearance. This young woman, un-
deniably a throw-back to an earlier
and fiercer day than the present, pro-
vides, in connection with the treasure
itself, q romance that partakes Of
some ba-baric time and place In its
action and atmosphere. This reverston
gives the adventure its peculiar mara,
The wooing of the young American
by this the last Of the line Of the
Montezunaas. coupled with the hazards
that wait upon the treasure hunt,
form the centers Of action in this tale
Of Du.e adventure. One in not "a alInd