Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1923-05-22
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
CONTACT; AND OTHER STORIES.
Frances Noyes Hart. Doubleday,
Page and t,ompany

Contact. sir?" Contact" And the
releasing spark lifts Jerry Langdon
TO the clouds and beyond. This touch
of the technic of flying serves, also.
to release the lovely short story,
Contact" In it's beginning this is
story of Cupid and Mars in liaison
on the French front. Up to his lights,
the little blind god-you recall-was
in those days no less busy than was:
In his own place. the great god OF
battle himself
A girl in an Army hut, tired to
deafness in the full service of a long
day. Then. through the hut a rushing
sweep OF life and gayety and adorably
absurd banter. In an instant the
spark - the immemorial spark - Is
struck: Jerry Langdon and the tired
girl. Janet. are faring out on the
glorious highway of young love,
speeding, in careless human effront-
cry. toward the inevitable penalty OF
their high daring.
To US the story comes only by way
of handful of worn letters and the
broken reminiscent words of a
stricken girl. Eloquent letters. elo-
quent words, that give over to us the
body and spirit of Jeremy Langdon.
Here is youth, all radiance. Here is
the rich heart, with ready and under
standing lips and eyes and hands to
deliver 1t. Hitherto passionately in
love with freedom, Jerry Is now even
more in love with his new bondage.
He would never leave her. never.
back to her from heaven itseh-"back
to you. jamie Janet" One sees the
boy, and loves him-loyes his long
grace. the competent gearing of his
fine body, the sleek dark head, the
brown face and the gray light Of the
hi ~ lA. 10 @f
his happy heart. and his whimsical,
adorable endearments. Yet, all this
comes from a handful of worn letters
and a few hating. broken words. For
Jerry is gone-gone on the long
flight of other gallant warriors of
the sky. ITS your voice, your voice
of silver and peace that's eternally
whispering Contact to me-and am
released, heart. soul and bedyl And
because you speed me on my way,
jamie, I'll never fly so far, I'll never
fly SO long. I'll never fly so high that
jamie has her chance. Indeed, jamie
has two chances to speed Jerry on his
long, long way. The first one comes
with the young French officer-sol-
dierly. grave. pitiful. Say to her
that she has my heart; if she needs
my body. will live. Say to her that
il is an ugly, broken and useless
thing; still hers" fash here of
sheer woman triumph that Jerry.
helpless. is now hers alone forever.
(Wise in woman lore. the author,
right heIe.) Then a vision of the
radiant Jerry, otherwise-oh, quite
otherwise-than the pure. embodiment
of life. and free movement and glad
encounters. And Janet, swift as light,
sends back the releasing word to him.
The second chance comes with the
recurrent droning of an uneasy,
questing airplane-now near. quite
near. then farther and gone. a plant
in the retreating flight. And. all at
once. jamie knows. the import of the
droning song of the plane. Jerry S
call to her for. definite and conclusive
release. Read the story. 1t is an
untactful clumsiness to touch IL in
what must be only a futile explica-
ton.
"Crying9 CRYING over a story :?
crying. and I'm not asking you and.
anyway, | always cry over beautiful,
pitiful. hopeless human things. I'm
going to read it over again right
now"
This is the best of these eight
short stories.
Well is it. after all? There Was a
Lady'-different, of course, but such
story. You see, the friends of
Larry Benedick knew positively that
there was not. never had been, never
would be. any woman in the life of
the self-contained Larry. 1t ell came
about in the quiet corner at Raoul' S
where. every day. Larry sat over a
long lunch. Right across. a lady, deep
in the business of reading little books
and nibbling at little lunches and
poking a small boot out toward a
frolicsome kitten-but not once look
ing over Larry's way. And out of this
a romance sprung-Larry's romance
And the romance actually grew to a
cottage bought and furnished. and a
/! gray roadster for her. Not once, yet
had the girl looked over Larry's way
And not even yet has she, nor will
she. Then, one day. Read this
one. 1t will be like you to cali
the eight. 1t is more than likely that
you are right.
j: K &
No. I've not forgotten Philip the
| Cay" Who could forget that young
war hero from old Provence where
for hundreds of years there had been
a succession of joyous. proud hearted
love of high and low alike in the
whole countryside roundabout! This
the last Philip. nobody could forget
Yet. Fairfax Cartersfrom the United
States of America-worno war
worker resting in this lovely ances-
trail corner of southern France with
Philips sister-srew positively furi-
GUS when from Philips distant rooms
she heard his joyous peals of laughter
and bright outpeurings of*song. She
spoke blightingly of slackers then, and
was he going to rest forever from the
war while his sisters supported him
She would tell him exactly what she
thought of him. And she did. Back
from this high mission she met a cold
and deadly anger while Laure. the
sister. told the truth about Philip.
Not for nothing was this young thing
Virginia. She turned promptly and
| marched straight back to Philip to
make such honorable amend as a
gentleman should make. But, Philip
was diff1cult-oh, not about the
| "amende," but about the other. A
beautiful story-the best of the eight
And we must not forget Green
Gardens''-these. spreading wide and
cool and deep around the big house
| mellowed in it's own fine tradition.
And here. one day. Daphne met tired
and world worn man. at home In the
gardens. Together they went into the
great house, where the man fingered to
see and touch the old intimacies Of his
CnllQnOOu lou arc SlSplcil dHc
Yes; / am Stephen Fame" Then
back under the trees Stephen told
Daphne of his far wanderings. of the
untruth and the injustice that had
sent him so far from the green gar
dens, and Of the terrible homesick
ness that had brought him, reluctant
but helpless. back to these lovely
home places. Daphne. seventeen
looked with rfiother-kifd eyes into
the worn face of stephen Fame, and
t,aA1 10 l,,,rf Via -
the mans heart. A whistle, and
Robin leaped the wall. what doin'