Evening star., 1923-09-30
Reviews of New Books

| into the open. A prominent NJ. p.
vanishes An unexplainable raid
takes place. A questionable building
is blown to bits. An open encounter
or no obvious point whatever is seen.
| And there are glimpses all through
these mystifying occurrences of men.
! black clad from crown to toe, and
the weird hooting of an owl follows
this uncanny band and. always where
thfSa, they are vaguely seen: strange
strangest things that an inventive
man can produce, Mr.. McNeile puts
/ on the shoulders of the black gang"
Hugh Drummond? Oh, yes: he's back
don." so says a severe old barrister
exasperated with the frivolous con-
duct of Hugh Drummond. Well, it
Is great enjoyment to read about
I the performances of this particular
fool" Yes, it's the Bull Dog, again
| on the job.
| GREY TOWERS, A Campus Novel.
anonymous. Chicago: Covici-Mc-
Gee Company.
| is too big for me. You see. the uni
versity is the people who compose it
and can't help saying what l
think. L get into the cogs, and no
wonder won people Thu think I'm disagree
ends. the girl. talking. in admission
| Of defeat. The fight indicated here is
| the old fight between youth and ma
| turity. between initiative and for
| malism, between innovation and ira
dition. The field of battle. a fairly
! new one for the novelist, Is that of
! education. The action is set through
! the efforts of an enthusiastic young
| teacher in the university to break
through the obstructive formalities
! of the institution in the hope of let
ting something of the real facts and
! problems of life make their way
through into the consciousness of the
| student body. And, in the main, the
action and the characters controlling
and directing 1T are projected in a
spirit consistent with the facts them
selves. Since, however, this is, frank
ly, novel of protest. one may find
here and there within 1t not so much
an injustice to the rigidity of institu-
tional education as an immaturity of
judgment and an excess of ardor on
the part of the young propagandist
for social and political reform. Never
! theless, there is reality all through
this story. reality of the sort that
presents itself in numberless daily
affairs among students. And one
reads it for this. agreeing hearth
Iy here. holding a doubt there. ques-
tioning the quality of the protest over
the author had put little more time
on the writing itself. A hopeless
protest? Oh. quite. Teaching is a
profession that is founded upon in
hibitions-that and one other profess
sion. That is why these tive are so
infinitely behind the actual facts of
life. A fair story and futile re-
bellion are projected by this novel.
SUSANNA'S AUCTION. illustrated
by Boutet de Monvel. New York:
The Macmillan Company.
The auction" is an episode in the
life of Susanna, three years old. A
valuable vase, broken through Su-
sanna's obstinate climbing on the fur
niture, led to the sale of her prop
erty to pay for the damage that she
had done. So, Susanna's toys were
assembled-the doll that could shut
it's eyes, the COW that gave milk and
no end of other astonishing possess
sions out of Toyland. The greatest
excitement of competitive bidding
went on among the children invited
to the sale. They acted Just like
grown folks at an auction. And Su-
sanna held herself ealoof, sullen and
unrepentant. If you want to know
exactly how Susanna did feel, Just
look at Boutet de Monvers pictures
of her at different, points in this ex-
citing transfer of property. Espe-
cially look at Susannas feet Never
before did one imagine, even, that
feet could express so many emotions
as SuSanna'S are doing on this day
of the auction. Finally everything of