Evening star., 1922-11-19

buccaneering of Pierre Lafitte over New
orleans ~. The black pirate. pur-
sued. sun; fabulous treasure ship
same old legend. YOU see-and then died
out OF this troubling world, the hiding
place a secret. According to the way
OF the legends. the treasure grew with
the years. And the story in hand is just
another one OF the many adventures
urc as their motive and object Now
Black Caesars Clan is but a handful of
serviie fellows. tools for the villain Of
the tale. A smooth. audacious villain is
Rodney Hade-a daring and ingenious
scamp who incites one to a jealous pur-
suit of his various rascalities. Off
against Hade is Gavin Brice, secret
service man. And the two make pair
That gives one no second OF let-doWn
concerning their active work and as
made a very beautiful background for
this action-the Florida coast in it's sea
origin and growth. Being himself. Mr.
Terhune could not resist getting collie
dog into this game of crime hunting
at every turn. "Melodrama" e maybe. @
but a rattling good story. just the same.
THE CATS PAW. BY Natalie Sum-
ner Lincoln. author of 1.-The Red
Seal" etc. New York: D. Apple
ton & Co.
Impossible to figure out why any
one should have poisoned old Susan
Baird. She was poor and harmless,
save for thread of temper and
tongue quick to match it. BI. dead
she certainly was. poisoned in her
own house over in Georgetown. This
is the stepping off place for Natalie
Sumner Lincoln's latest mystery sto-
ry. Relatives and near relatives and
friends gather. naturally, at the old
home of Susan Baird. And these are
the ones with whom. thereafter, the
mystery has to do: This writer has
a particularly subtle power of di-
recting suspicion-a word. maybe only
look or a faint gesture sets the
Sooner or later, here, no less than
seven persons come under the ac-
cusing eye of the reader and all of
them with plausible reasons back of
the suspicious attaching to them in
turn. And, at the last. the real crim-
inal proves to be the only completely
MISUNDERSTANDING one in the group.
This. too. one recalls as a part of the
method of this writer. Both charac-
teriSticS are used at the authors best
here. So the matter remains an ex-
citing conjecture up to the last mo-
|ment. If one has any quarrel at all
with the author here it is not that
wholly innocent people should act
guilty now and then. That is a COM
monplace of real life. But, that
an. instant lose his blameless bearing
makes one wonder If hypocrite
could be so perfect in his part. How
ever. this is good story-the best
yet from this source.
THE EVIL SHEPHERD. BY E. Phil
lips Oppenheim. author Of THE
Great Impersonation," etc. Boston:
Little, Brown & Co.
The "evil shepherd is. by all odds.
the most interesting person in this
romance. Sir Thomas Grast. who
titles the story, is rich and eccen-
tric Englishman with a reputation
for wickedness that runs all over
London and a long way down the
Thames. Hiding himself behind an
exterior of mysterious behaviors, Sir
Thomas. a genuine sportsman. and
with certain notions of his own about
laws and conventions. leads his own
life free from interference by sus-
picious and condemning public. The
Walled House. his secluded estate on
the Thames. is believed to be the
scene of wild orgies. Nothing could
be farther from the fact. Youth. ac-
cording to common report, is not safe
with this man. Nothing appears to
be safe with him. save broken down
horses and other outworn animals
that find permanent refuge in his
fields No one thinks of counting this
for goodness. No. this is only another
false gesture on the part of this
wicked man; The story is well on ITS
And the substance of this beginning
is sound-but, as soon as one gets
sight of the EVIL shepherd other
people take second place. serving
merely to give the shepherd his
chance. The whole is shade fan
tastic. but one does not think of
that while he is in it. for the move
ment is so swift and varied and orii-
liant that one is carried along in its
tide of incident and mystery and final
outcome. A good diversion for the
hour that might otherwise De ouii
and empty one.
THE WORLD N REVOLT: PsyrhO-
logical study Of Our Times. By
l;ustave LIE Bon, author of The
Psychology of the Crowd" etc
Translated by Bernard Mall. New
York: The Macmillan Company.
Gustave lie Bon. the French psy-
chologist. in this volume goes behind
the great war and it's results of revolt
ana chaos. in order to point out the
sources, the causes, the effects and
the remedy for this general move
ment of whole peoples toward de-
struction and dissolution. The book
is, in effect. study of the psy-
chOlOEy OIL Gne CTO"us tiiiS
standpoint the author discusses the
mental evolution of the peoples. Nov
ing forward. he takes up the conflict
ing principles in modern warfare.
tracing the influence of ideas in ma
tional conflicts. and setting forth the
influence of mental factors in the bat
tie itself. Beyond this he describes
some CT the political illusions of the
present as these are manifested in the
concept of the nation itself. He gives,
in detail, the psychological blunders
of the peace treaty, and Immediately
sets the problem of a society of ma
tions, defining the elements of ma
tional and international security. The
book is in part. addressed to Amer
lea. since it discusses our unavoid-
able role in an interdependent world.
The abstract theme is made concrete
by innumerable references to the con-
duct of nations during. and after. he
great war. 1t is forceful and OBJ
jective portrayal of the international
situation and of the world future
worked out on the basis of crowd
psychology.
BOOKS Received.
THE MYSTERIOUS OFFICE. BY Jen-
nette Lee. New York: Charles
Scribner's Sons.