Evening star., 1922-05-28
Reviews of New Books

tday an Italian organ grinder and his
friend and partner. monkey. Inc
amored of the monkey, who respond
ed to her friendship like some cunning
little human. This girl ran away 70
join the monkey. and the man. FROM
this point matters move forward py
the quest Of this fugitive at the
| householder of the valley family.
From city to city, working her way,
goes this girl, Her odyssey makes
the fabric of the tale. The outcome
| is the only one, to be considered, ana
to this end the author works art
That she does this is distinct
triumph. When Madge Lockerby re-
turns to Lost Valley her troubles go
on. She finds the grandmother dead;
She is repudiated by the enraged
uncle. She does finally return. how
| this man kills himself. No, 1t is in
conceivable that another gruesome
thing could have happened. To this
sum Of tragic happenings Mrs.
Gerould tacks the courtship of Madge
Lockerby. This is the only weak
fully written and most austerely
held to it's own grim course. The
| love story falls away, weak and in
effective. Still 1t had the insur :
mountable to overcome-so, one could
not. expect it to be strong.
HISTORIC FREDERICKSBURG the
story Of an old town. By John
T. Goolrick. author of "Irishmen
in the Civil War" etc. Richmond:
Whittet & Shebperson.
The immediate appeal of this inter-
esting story of Fredericksburg is, as
| matter Of course. local. To the old
town and its environs the book must
stand as a real hall Of fame. housing
those who for two and half centu-
| history of the state. but to that of the
nation as well. The second half of
this record is devoted to personal
sketches Of these substantial men,
sketches that bear EVIDENCE of pains
taking research for the sake of pay
I An interesting section. this, that gives
| out richly the savors OF the early
| south. The story begins. however
with a comprehensive view of Freder-
lcksburg. both in its own home
growth as community and in its
very appreciable contributions to the
development of the south as a whole
with occasional events that reach ma.
tional scope and significance. Natur-
| ally, the civil war takes a conspicu-
GUS place in this record, since at this
point some of the most momentous
| battles Of that war were fought. The
! lasting value of the book does not lie
with this particular chapter Of look
| ing backward. Its real value lies in its
! large view. on the one hand, and. on
so reminiscent Of the picturesque
| feudalism OF the slave states. Local
histories like this one are Of ines
| timable value, since they SO clearly
vttalize the large outlines of general
| history. There is a decided gift for
| absorbed in the interest which the
author himself feels and projects. As
| book. a piece Of work, this is ad-
| mirable-an artistic book with pic
| lures that are away above the aver
, age. beautiful pictures.
sTEPsONs OF LIGHT. By Eugene
Manlove Rhodes. author of "The
Desire of the Moth" etc. Boston:
Houghton Mifflin Company.
story of the west in its cowboy
i stage, with a certain one of this or
I der standing by and moving around.
, more or less faithfully, in the vari-
Gus situations that the cowboy life
has come to mean to the reader of
| western adventure. Sounds like the
| familiar formula-yet this romance
| is of different cast from the average
of these skimming wild west tales
Its writer, back in his mind, has the
| sense of history. There is spread out
, the continental movement-three hun
| dred years long-from Plymouth Rock
to the Pacific coast. The building OF
the great west is, to him, the epic
climax of this amazing march. And
here the plainsman. the cattleman
| stands as the supreme pioneer. Out OF
! this big picture he gathers material
! for the plain and rugged story in
hand. The most will take it as a good
adventure. filled with believable men
of the rougher sort. and animated by
| swift and sudden action. To the
I author, however and to a few readers
| it will stand as the record of a few
| late campfires of the Great Trek
! a movement that, in the course OF
| time, will pass into legend. This il
an effort, sincere and competent ef-
fort to hold to dramatic reality and
permanence a characteristic phase OF
| life in the development of the west.
THE MAN FROM THE WILDs. By
Harold Bindless, author of 'Wynd-
| hams Pal" etc. New York: Fred
| erick A. Stokes Company.
| Mr.. Bindloss. in order to give his
+. hero. John Wreay. room for his man.
/; size powers and possibilities. assigns to
! him not only portion of the American
| northwest. but corner of England as
| well. The adventure, under the general
4
way of the pining industry, or. rather, by
! that stressful part of it known as pros
! pecting. With companion or two, OF
! his own kind. John, on this side of the
water. makes discovery Of important
I mining secrets. takes care of bolshevik
activities in the mining camp, does a
| days work every day and comports
himself like a real man at any and ali
| of his jobs. Across the water he adds
| to this all-around efficiency the man.
| agement of a young lady's property
J cousin of sorts-and tops off this phase
| Of his existence by very inept exam
pie of making love and winning a wife
Not SO very much in the way Of en-
couragement in this respect. however
| for the girl is a makeshift person
| though it is obvious that Mr.. Bindloss
+! has created her in perfect good faith
| One does not recall Mr.. Bindloss' wom-
| en-, so he is not prepared to say
!! whether this girl is an accident or the
| usual turnout from this source. She
| is not convincing, She rattles to the
! touch and tinkles, sharply, to the ear
/ She is designed to be high grade. will
full. naughty. capricious-but very win
ming. Well, she suits John Wreay, as
it turns out, which is the real point
after ALL