Evening star., 1923-05-06
skEETERS KIRBY; A Novel. BY Ed
gar Lee Masters, author of Mitch
Mitchell" etc. New York: The
Macmillan COMPANY.


gar Lee Masters. author of Mitch
Mitchell" etc. New York: The
Macmillan Company.
"HIS is the day-by-day account
AZ his own life by Skeeters
S.sty. It's long story 1t
SnvNs neaSy-that Is. the
pages look packed. And the talk is
of the fellow who refuses to regard
parts of speech or the way of saying
his words with any respect for their
respective rights and uses. 1t is, in
word. dialect account of just
plain and uninteresting events. We
make up our minds not to read it.
Still we are compelled to read it in
some sort of fashion. That is about
as far as we remember, till. a few
hours after. more or less. we came
out of the book having missed not
a word. We still do object to that
hack country talk. We still do find
the conscientious realist a good deal
of hore. Put we are making AN
exception right here. 1t was this
way: Skecter broke the rules for a
Ecro of romance. For he stepped
right out of the book and sat down
beside us-a personable chap as one
would see in many ii long day. A
persuasive and convincing fellow,
100. whose difficulties appealed to us
strongly. All sorts of difficulties
some about himself. for he was
really very little acquainted with
Skeeters Kirby. And that puzzled
him. Then his folks. OF course they
knew all about him and what he
ought to be and do. when: as a
matter Of cold fact and practical use.
parents know less than anybody else
about their own children. Too many
NailtieS of their own to conceal to
their parents from the housetops.
Then. the women-such an expensive
education. in every direction, for
Skeeters. that administered by the
women. married and single. AS hon
est as the day. this young Shelters
from us one wonders what it can be.
\ hard time-just the hard time of
all youth. We pity him SO and we
like him quite beyond being able to
set it down. adequately. here.
GARDEN WHIMSEYs. BY Charlotte
Rider Lomas. New York: The
Macmillan Company.
'Fh" ''whimscys" will get You even
should the garden fail. 1t is not
nitum Wilsonii." "Spirea Thunbergii, e,
Il! chns Eiscaria'' But when il
comes to hollyhocks standing in a
row, and roses climbing trees, and
datfodils dancing in the sun, then
everybody owns up to the spell OF
"oniine herself TO these simple things
ON the contrary. she is an ambitious
lady in the Hover line. but an artful
one, concealing the pride of knowl-
ffdee under plain and innocent speech
However. there are in this garden
many things besides those with which
the craft is usually concerned. These
are the "whimseyS''- husband. upon
occasion at hand; Rowdy. the dog
goldfish in a bowl and plants that
behave exactly like humans. And
while the author digs. and plants. and
trains she manages to keep up also
: = most engaging run of comment
thai reaches out past any garden
walls and links up just about the
whole world of human interest with
inns mere patch of ground. If YOU
are hankerlnG after a garden spot of
oeautS. consult with this lady She
intimacy with towering things If.
however. YOU just want to sit around
ana listen and see garden things com.
70 pass rlSht before Your very ewes
why. then. in that case YOU again
consult this lady. Completely
charming book. whether you regard
it as d utility or an entertainment
YOUTHS WAY. BY Gale Young Rice.
author Of "Shadowy Thresholds,
etc. New York: The Century Com
pany.
This is. in the beginning. the story
OF ittle David in his home with good
Uncle William and motherly Aunt
Mary-Just the story of an eager.
curious. natural boy child absorbed in
me exciting world around him A
shade lonely. now and then, till that
great day when Halle and Ronald
came. After that there was no time
Tor loneliness in the busy lives of
these three children. The story goes
on with David growing TO be a lad.
Iuli OF youths enthusiasmS and ac-
fiVitIes. David-a little different
from the common run of boys, be-
cause all manner of pictures passed
before his eyes. and lovely dreams
grew in his mind-all Of these, some
how, set agoing by the world itself
puddles of rain. the woods the
shadows and the sunshine And there
were friendships. such as all youth
finds. and strange emotions to which
there seemed to be no answer And
David grew older. There were mis-
takes and unhappiness. such as youth
must stumble upon with no one to
help. And nobody ever helps youth.
Maturity is scared to death by youth.
One wonders what this fear is all
about And, at the end of the lovely
little story. after David has been
kicked around q good deal by this
amazing thing that We call life, we