New-York tribune., 1922-08-13
Tales of Mystery
By Isabel Paterson

~ behind his own whiskers Is rather
funny. but unintentionally 30.
A pattern rogue for thrill-mongers is
The Secret Adversary" And natur-
ally, an old friend lie is that gigantic
Master Mind Of criminals who aims az
world power through a vast secret or
ganization OF the anarehic elements OF
every nation. You may purisiieally OBJ
ject that anarchy cant be organized,
but you are not a Master Mind. Wasn't
Moriarty, who bafied even sherlock
Holmes. the first literary incarnation
Of this gentleman Probably not; but
no matter. His latest avataf is vel
come The means by which his dsrk
designs are defeated and unmasked this
time Is or are a couple of young inno-
cents. male and female. who end them
selves out OF job when the war ends
and ready for any other little task.
10 does seem a. II fiction characters
miss the war a good detl now It's over
hardly a fecent novel but contains sew
eral characters left at loose ends b.
peace. Some Of them are quite an
n0ycd about b.. These two. however
fan into something just as good. Tae
solution Of this story - very skillfully
postponed. seldom are the inevitable
false clues made so plausible and so
mislcadin- And the climax is pleas
ingly impossible. The whole thing has
Che absorbing quality of a puzzle-box
Where is the man. woman or child VINO
can resist worrying AZ puzzle until ,t
Is forced 20 come out >" But is D.
hypereritica 20 say that the Bolshcvsi
are becoming rather a bore IN stories
Of this type They pop up with such
monotonous regularity. A little more
art Tor arts sake. is our plea.
To call The Ninth Vibration" a col
lection Of mystery stories may indicate
sumably or a higher plane. The prac-
teal difference il that mystical story
has no solution the reader never finds
out for certain what rs all about
There is generally an explanation OF
sort. but 70 is more obscure than the
point u elueidates. In the title story
We meet with Canadian Danish girl
named Brynhild Ingmar in the heart Of
India for unknown reasons She is
beautiful and has strange powers over
beasts and birds Apparently Rupert
Ormond. the teller OF The tale. fell in
love with her. ard why they did not
marry and live happy in the ordinary
way heaven knows. There are no ma
ter.al obstacles mentioned: and D.
seems they part only 20 meet again az,
some dim distant future period .u the
ninth vibration. whatever that may
be. ESop wrote a fable which the
materia. minded are apt 20 apply %
this.
In The next story. "Thc Interpreter. %
% is made clear that "shadowy third"
keeps Wanna Lor.ng from her earthly
wo0cr. FOR ir past incarnation she
had loved another and tempted him 90
sin. and must wait and search for him
throughout the ages. Il is limited that
this rnostly lover had been mary
things. Including a Buddhist priest and
the great Mogu Emperor Akbar so
he might well hold a woman's interest
But n they belonged 20 each other why
was their first union SIM These thlngs
are hard for the uninitiate. However.
one should not apply logic 20 fairy sto-
ries. ard all these are fairy stories for
adults The style is q simmer OF col
ored words and phrases. very pretty. II
no. beautiful. And has not the very
name o. India magic o. its own,
Yet even India has rot magic enough
20 throw any glamour over "Abdiea-
tion." Perhaps 10 Is opposed by strong
cr magic IN this instance. Stories m
which neVspAper men Journalists. %
I this casel fgure are almost invariably
| dull and tedious Evidently they are a
tribe which should be known only
I through their works And oureaucrats
arc dul.er still. II this Is a faithful
uicture % India as q is to-day. as the
Jacket informs US then rs title should
/ rather have been "lehabod" The glory
mas departed Perchance now IL sbides
in Sussex. even in England. with q
f little man in big spec;aclcs known as
/ Rudyard Kipling.