The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1921-11-20

THE STRENGTH OF THE PINES
BY Edison Marshall. Frontispiece by
W. Herbert Dunton. Little, Brown
& Co., Publishers, Boston
An Oregon mountain feud supplies
the theme of Mr.. Marshalls new
novel in which he displays his init
mate knowledge of the great ou-of-
doors and the denizens of the forest
with the same sure touch which
made The Voice of the Pack" one
Of the most noteworthy of last years
books. Here again a man of noun
tain stock, educated in the cities,
! naturally takes up the ways of the
Nmen of the wilderness when he is
projected into its life by his desire to
solve a mystery of his boyhood.
Bruce Duncan's return to Trails
End" renews the feud in which his
father had been killed, in which
Bruce and his childhood playmate,
Linda, are menaced by the evil Tur-
ner clan, with the forces of the will
derness an impartial and important
factor THE Killer" master of the
pine forests-an enormous, fearless
grizzly. the last of his race in these
wfndswept mountain ranges-domi-
mates more than one scene between
the fighting humans whom he hates
and Hunts. 1.-THE Strength of the
Pines is a splendid novel of life in
the open. of blood-stirring adventure
and of a brave man. inspired by the
love Of a splendid woman. winning
out against odds.
THE cRoss-cUT'
~ Courtney Riley Cooper. Frontis-
piece by George w. Gage. Little.
Brown 4 Co, Publishers. Boston.
This IL q Colorado mining story
dealing with tho attempt of squirt"
Rodaine and his son to wrest the Blue
Poppy silver mine from Robert Fair
child. Young Fairchild is loft with
q deed to the mine, and when he goes
to claim his property he encounters
| first q charming girl-apparently es-
Hcaping from the sheriff-then, when
he reaches the old mining town of
Ohadi he finds that he has(an enemy
in Rodaine. who was concerned in
his fathers sudden departure, under
q cloud, from the town 20 years pre-
viously. A former partner, Harry
Hawkins, a Cornishman, joins Rob-
ort in again working the mine, but
they encounter many obstacles. How
Robert and his partner discover the
peridy of the Rodaines. and in the
end remove the stain from his faith
sr's name. is unfolded in a manner
that engrosses the reader to the very
end Mr.. Cooper is familiar with
Colorado mining town life and he has
a sense of humor which marks THE
Cross-Cut" as western novel of
high order The plucky hero and
the spirited heroine will make
strong appeal as their romance
threads its way through the book.
With q superb plot. realistic pack-
ground and excellent characterize
ton, 1.-THE Cross-Cut" will be liked
BY lovers of virile American fiction
RESURRECTION ROCK"
BY Edwin Balmer. Frontispiece oy
Anton Otto Fischer Little,
Brown & Co., Publishers, Boston.
Messages from an unknown source
induce Lieut. Barney Doutrelle, just
back from France, to strike out into
the Michigan woods in search of st.
Florentin, town of which he has
never heard and of which even the
train officials can tell him nothing.
There he hopes to find out about
..Resurrection'' and an unknown man
named Bagley. On the train he en-
counters Ethel Carew, discovers that
her home is in ST. Florentin and that
her father. killed in action some
months before, was probably the
Philip Carew from whom the mes
So yes had come. His quest, appa-
rently, must take him to Resurrec-
ton Rock, small island-just few
acres of, rock with an empty house
on TIA few miles off shore from the
house of Ethers grandfather. She
agrees to take him on to st. Floren-
tin and to help him in his search. and
fi.ds her grandfather strangely in
terested in all that has to do with
Resurrection Rock, and keenly OPP
posed to the curiosity of the young
visitor.
Thus opens a story of action. ad-
venture and surprise, with suffi-
cheney of romance and mystery. that
Is decidedly the best work yet done
By Edwin Ralmer, who in collabora-
tea with william MacHarg wrote