New-York tribune., 1922-10-08

| a, sVsa uwyng because he
| .aouaht at would meet trade demand
put y reads as if he wrote ii quite ~
much to please himself. THAT 4 ~.
1Fse requisite for tho making of 81
entertaining story, that il shall encac.
she interest Of the author. So he ha.
p1oalccd an cxccllent novel Of its Kind
pfobably tho best he has ever wr;tte,
Fioneer days in Indiana were lust .,
1ohlantic as any other period az bi,.
| Tory II you think so, and he thouoht -
Maas - more, he enables tho rcader + 10
thfhk SO. He has made his characters
| i've, very. likely because thrv ware
alive to him, as if he remembered them
with an inherited memory or throuri,
OLD anecdotes and bits of rossip haara
IN childhood. And he has woven those
living memories about the framework
OF plot which in it's elements might
have served for the basis Of i Greek
tragedy.
1t doesn't turn out tragedy in Ma
hands' but that is no defect. The
Greeks bowed to incxorable gods: free
Wall and common sense had no place in
their literary scheme Of things. Ap-
parenfiy they believed that whoever
made Your bed you must lie in it. The
United States, including Indiana was
founded and grew upon the exactly op-
posite notion,
So Viola Gwyn and Kenneth Gwynne,
finding themselves at once bound to-
gethcr and held apart by the sin of her
mother and his father. first cut the
Gordian knot and then tied new one.
It required courage to do it, but they
had plenty. Why not? Rachel Garter,
Viola's mother, had shot more than one
hostile Indian at need, and her daukh-
ter was quite ready to shoot man who
insulted her.
All the women were valiant inAt this
tale; but pioneer women had to be. They
did not yet know they we're Early Vic
torians. Thus also Molly Hawk knitted
too amorous swain; and though she
had to stand her trial, that the ma
Jesty Of the law might be yindicated,
the jury acquitted her in ten minutes
by the clock, partly because they knew
she had done right, and partly because
they had TO hurry away to repel an
Indian attack. The prosecuting attor-
ney's presentation of his case deserves
to become classic. He asked the jury
1irst: If they had buried Molly's as
sailant. Jasper Suggs, and second: If
he was dead. With that the state
rested.
The whole book is racy of the soil,
vigorously written, snd we'll con-
structed. Ii will fill the bill for any
reader for pleasure, and affords a
genuine glimpse Of the past as well.
Another tale Of bygone days which
has an authentic note is Margaret Full
ler's "One World at Time The
world she, recraates is small one,
| contained within the circle Of Florida
plantation, and the time appears to be
| no longer ago than the sos of the
last century. Yet while it seems much
further away, the scere is singuIarly
vivid; wherein it also has the stamp
Of remembrance rather than research
1t is hardly novel ut all; it is a
longish and always fascinating sketch
of one man, the rarrator's uncle, owner
of the Bellefount plantation. All the
other persons are his satellites, re-
volving around him, seen by his light
| Norbet Lspierre is an unforgettable
character. With something the ex-
terror of traditional pirate, he had
the heart Of a child, and in some meas
ure the mind of q scientist. He loved
| all mankind; he even trusted his fell
lowmen, and whether or not his bulk
and manner compelled them to respect
that trust, they never betrayed it. He
thought he was practical man. called
himself an atheist, but was above all
a dreamer and Of a personality so
powerful he imposed his dream ON
others as a reality. He is incredible,
but true, as some real people are; and
he is at times irresistibly funny. Here
is a book most certainly written for
love, and full Of charm.
Likely enough Jeffery Farnel is an
other who writes what he best likes,
since he began with what may be
called historical novels when they were
not popular at ali, and has stuck to
then, steadily. Perhaps it would do
him gsed to turn to tho present for
his material fer a book or SO; his
latest lacks something of zest, flags
and falters in its stride.
He begips well enough; nineteen
year-old Peregrine yereker, the pocket
gentleman and sucking poet, is r
happy thought for change from his,
former heroes, blacksmiths and bruis-
ers they mostly were. And, of
course, he has to send young Peregrine
out into the world to find himself; yeu
can't have story while your hero is
sitting in the lap of his maiden aunt
julia. And it is all right, If a bit
stereotyped, as long as Fercgrine sticks
to the open road. Highwaymen, e1op-s
ing beauties, gypsies, pugilist turned
preacher, and, of course, philosophic
tinker, an old friend of the Farnol
public keep the first half Of the hoax