Evening star., 1921-09-11

Dodd, Mead & Co.
Wang the Ninth was not, as his
name might imply. certain shining
link in the honorable chain Of Chi
nese dynasty. Wang was. first, a
gamin. who. in search of the where
withal to hold body and soul together,
had explored every rat hole in Peking
till he knew the low quarters of the
city like the back of his own hand.
more. since Wang flourished. In his
food forays about the big city he came
across many odd things. among them
groups Of strange men who fiourished
fierce swords and muttered vengeance
upon the foreign devils" Then:
one of these devils. big, fair man
who. now and then. cast a friendly eye
! upon the small stable boy. Food and
protection and the comfortable horses
and. above all. the smiling looks Of
the big. fair devil. worked out In the
boys heart the pattern of loyalty.
So 1t came to pass that little Wang
was sent upon the great adventure.
This was when the city was besieged
by the Boxers and the legations were
must be reached without delay and
urged to q swift advance. Then one
gets. in vivid picture. a very small
hoy. travelling. by day. by night. across
q wide country. Running. crawling.
hiding. stealing food and sleep, lying
| time working ahead. 1t is the wit of
| this tiny animal against the world
| an exciting adventure that brings to'
! mind that other oriental boy. Kim.
| bent upon a similar mission; A sur
the country and the people. He knows
the boy, too. And with these he
| constructs this sidelight on the Boxer
| rebellion.
THE STORIES EDITORS BUY AND
WHY. Compiled by Jean Wick.
Boston: Small. Maynard & Co.
Thirteen short stories. taken from
~ many magazines. give concrete ex-
| ample here Of the kind Of story that
publishers buy. These. in themselves.
er Of good fiction. Rupert Hughes.
Fannie Hurst, Edna Ferber, Stacy Au-
monier, Booth Harrington and Samuel
Hopkins Adams. are among the for
tunsts ones who figure @ as Examples IS
The majority Of these stories run
along the cheerful levels Of life and.
one of them, at least, is uproariously
funny. Samuel Hopkins Adams Cab.
Sir?' is that one-a laughable bit OF
city skylarking in an Army tank. Be-
| yohd these examples of the short story
is section given over to the opin-
ions of various magazine publishers
on the short story and, generally.
some sort of explanation OF their
methods of choice and selection. These
are wholly informal letters that take
into account the market conditions for
literature, much as any other mer-
chant sizes up his own particular field
Of demand and supply. This part of
the book is worth the careful atten-
ton of those who are trying to con-
tribute to the supply Of current fiction.
A unique sort Of text book, whose
point is to give concrete examples OF
the short stories that typify the ideals
and the development Of the Ameri-
can branch Of this form OF literary
invention.
MORE HUNTING WAsPs. BY J. Henri
Fabre, author of THE Life Of the
Spider" etc. Translated by Alex
ander Teixeira de Matios. New
York: Dodd, Mead & Co.
The fourteen chapters of this vol
ume are given up to description OF
the hunting wasps, subject which
the writer commenced some time ago
daily life Of these hunting wasps is
set out here in the inimitable simplic-
ity that no one, except Fabre himself,
has reached in dealing with insect
life. Indeed, one loses sight Of these
tiny creatures as mere instructive ami
OF reason and highly organised life.
under the sympathetic and friendly
treatment Of this great scientist and
poet. Darwin did call him poet. and
Maeterlinck names him as "the in
Fabre inspired his own "The Life of
the Bee" In October. 1915. Henri
Fabre died, an old man, ninety-two
years old, having spent his simple and
beautiful life in the south OF France,
-. d s,A,y lrp h al IN 70 vsNy
tale and poetry he transmits In Its
whole truth to q world Of loving, and
eager readers.
AS STRONG As THE HILLS. BY
Mata4ee T. Lake. Washington: Ter
mina1 Press.
This is q romance of Persia, in the
days Of that country's greatness. It's
hero is q nobleman' Of wealth and wis
dom, Albert Rustrab. Its action is. In
the main, war with the Greeks. though
this. in effect, becomes the setting OF
q true love adventure for Albert
Rustrab and the beautiful Roberta.
Mtsadventures, many ana menacing,
mark the stressful course OF this
true love. but, at last, as q love story
and happiness. That is all very in
teresting, but not nearly SO much SO
~ are the external circumstances
which gave rise to this tale OF the
east. Tho romance Is piece OF war
work. written to help the American
Near East Relief Association, its pro.
ceeds going entirely to that organixa-
tion. More interesting still is the
fact that it was written by 6fteen-
year-old girl, washington high
school girl whose course In ancient
history fired her Imagination to the
undertaking in hand. Naturally. It
bears the evidence OF this youthful
ness. It is fresh. soaring. uplifted. ro-
mantle. At the same time It shows
q storytelling instinct. It has a
theme. It begins ut q definite place
and time. It has Z clearly defined OBJ
3ect in view. And, between these two
points, 1t holds steadfastly to the line
that they impose. That fs about all
eiere fs TO the mechanics OF literary
construction, and the girl 10 starting
ont with that fact clearly In hand. An
interesting talA ~ Il 10. a promising
outlook. as well, upon the future work
st this very young writer