The New York herald., 1922-03-19

written to please his ego. A man
does not give his hearts blood unless
he feels that In giving a drop of the
virile stuff it might suffice to help
another youth grope through the pit
of darkness with renewed strength"
And Emmett-or Jim Tully-doss.
indeed, give OF his hearts blood" ba
the making of this record.
How much of encouragement It
may hold for other struggling youths
is problematic. especially as 1t ends
on a note of encouragement. 1t has
SO little finality-in spite OF its i'm
plications OF victory-that IL seems
to call loudly for a sequel-for NJ
account of Emmett's next step. BE
has obviously made that next step.
else the book would not have been
written. and one wants to know
about il.
Emmett is very Irish. There is a.
persisting atmosphere OF Celtic mel
ancholy about the whole. shot
through with a Celtic exuberancc
and joy Of battle. Joy of living In
spite OF the wretchedness and pain
of life, and there Is an abiding be-
lief in the fairies-a composite Of
Keats and pugilism, of the rainbow
and the filth OF a prison cell. En-
NETT has a plain kinship with Bor-
row and with Jack London, but is
more real than either-less Of an
eccentric than Borrow and never a.
conscious or half-conscious poseur.
as London often was. Emmett is
not playing a part, either as circus
performer, hobo or prize fighter; he
is the real thing. And underneath
the CRIME there is always the soul
of the poet'-as he himself some
times too positively. points out.
Also the quality OF perverseness
he sometimes shows is Irish; a kind
of belligerent inconsequentiality thar
leads him to altogether too much
praise of the under dog. One may
admit that many a hobo may have
a t'vigorous mind" and lovable quail
ties and at the same time realize that
il he is a hobo from sheer choice he
is not a very admirable creature.
When Emmett takes to the road as
a youthful hobo there was no i'm
peIling necessity for it. There is q
glamour about the young adven-
turer frothing over with life," under
going starvation, freezing cold ana
brutalities for the mere joy OF con.
fiict and experience. but II is. aftR
all, more bravalo than true courage.
Sympathy with him and admiration
can easily be overdonc. But. with
that reservation, the rest of the book
Is altogether admirable.
1t opens with the death of En-
mett's mother, when he was s years
old. One may look far among the
writings OF to-day for a chapter
comparable TO this opening scene.
Here was a dead eagle. born for
the mountains, whose clipped wings
had forced her TO walk the mud
roads of Ohio. ;. The valiant
woman had given her life 10 usher
into the world-a little dead baby.
She had never believed that poor
people should bring large families
into the world. And now. like many
a soldier, with face upturned to the
sky. she had given her life in bat
tie the idea of which she felt was
wrong. Her husband. however. felt
that God tempers the wind to the
shorn lamb. He was quite unmind-
full of the fact that II the lamb had
not been shorn there would have
been no need or tempering the
wind
Emmett passes the next six years
or so in an orphan asylum. 1t Is
grim. unrelieved picture OF misery.
but the reader feels that IL is in no
way exaggerated. No more biting
criticism OF the occasional failures
of what passes for philanthropy has
ever been written. Emmett is taken
from this inferno by a rough. half
insane farmer with a Slavic name
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