Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-11-28
Lockes Eccentric Heroes
and Charming Heroines

does It by acting as the hostess ut n
dinner whith the man gives ut time
when he IL abOuS to succumb to the
widow. She arrnngcs the decorations
of the dining room after Il plan Of her
own which will make the widow look
like witbercd flower. She has her.
self dressed by cOstumer who under.
stands the art Of fitting-shc designs her
own gOwn--and after the guests have
all arrived she makes her -triumphnl
entry In evening dress. 1t Is the first
time her friends have known her to
wear It. They gasp in astonishment.
When she leads them into the dining
room it appears that her costume
matches the decorations, black and sill
YER. with pnsplc orchids. with the skill
Of a general managing n campaign she
takes command and dominates the Oc.
casion with the brilliuncc Of her wit
and the charm Of her manner. And
the host falls captive to her. And
the book ends with her as triumphant
mother. proud Of her glory.
Mr.. Locke shows what Il woman can
do with n man when she desires to
do 1t. lie ~ justified, too, because
history is rich with instances Of si,ni .
lar triumphs on Il larger scale, instances
in which woman Of brilliant intellect
has. through the lure Of her sex, been
able to do as she would with kings and
princes, and to dictate the course Of
empire. But he also glOriics women In
the fulfillment Of their womanhood.
The womcn ought to regard Mr..
Locke as their special and particu.
ldr hcro
ITO GET back TO "rhc Tale Of Tri.
l. ona" IL should be said that il.
hero. Alexis Triona. is Il man who has
won distinction in n sphere to which
he was not born. just as the hero oi
"Thc Mount"bank" had won it. lie is
a young Engllshman, born John Briggs.
who had an adventurous youth as a
chauffeur il Russia. While escaping
from Russia after the Bolshrvik rcvolu
'ion he picked up the notebook Of dead
Russian who had had terrible adven-
lures in an attempt to escape. Triona,
or briggs. keeps the notes. and after a
time Of service with the mine swcepcrs
gets back to England when the war
ends aud writes a book about the OK
rpricnrcs recorded in the memoranda
That i, may appear 30 bc his own nd
ventures he assumes the name Of Alexis
Triona. gets tn" book published, anG
instantly becomes a literary lion. III
meets Olivia Gale, Il true. hearted girl
with fine instincts, but yet "a girl look.
and the story Of it rs Mr.. Locke tells i
| is ihyllic in its romantic beauty.
l't tn" inevitable exposure .
Triona comes and the man, who ha'
married tho girl in the meantime. leave
her in shame as he secs the horror /,
hcr eyes at his deception. But th'
youth is not wholly bad. IIc had beer
blackmailcd by his own lie. as one o
the characters says. lie goes through
the fires Of repentance and the boOl
ends with a meeting between the hus
band and wife. II reconciliation and
! VVuNSSlVu Wy w sIau'
lie had played on the public.
Olivia will orrury high place il
tho list Of Mr.. I.ork"'s lcroincs. Sh
found her mate and was loyal to him
although she had resented bitterly hi
deception when she first discovered i,
but she was as Indifferent to the fac
that he was tho son Of n mill w"rkr,
Just ns the heroine of ''Thc Mountc
bank" did not care that the man whol
she loved had been Il clown. lie wa
a real man. with honorable instinct
and fine abilities. She knew that ran
is but the guincn's stamp, as til
Srotrhmnn said. In conclusion it ma
bc said that if Mr.. Lock" has dcvot"
himself to any one thing it has been I
demonstrate that Il mans man and
wumans woman for n that.
GEORGE W. DOlGLAS.