Evening star., 1923-02-25
Reviews of New Books

coming to pass. The fringes of this
picturesque assemblage were corre-
spondents. proxies. loafers. Round
Geneva-taik center of the world.
Then she pushed the whole we'll into,
, the future, where there is no check
ing-up system. Finally the confer
ence was a going concern. when, one
day, notable disappeared, the next
day another then another, and SO on
tilr the great occasion was likely to
die for want Of human support. the
agent Of these dire and sundry disas-
ters, brought out at the timely last
| moment. is of an absurdity to match
the whole clever and keen and sattri-
| cal playtime of this busy woman on
one of her days off.
THE STEP ON THE STAIR. BY
Anna Katherine Green, author or
The Leavenworth Case. etc
New York; Dodd, Mead & Co.
] Nowadays in reaching out for the
mystery story, the gesture Is likely to
indicate a good deal Of that tired
feeling. "ShuCks" the l.stless hand
says. They are. all alike, all made
! from the same formula, all as COM
pletely standardized as a Ford ma
chine" But. maybe because 1t is ones
| job. he goes ahead with the monoto-
nous business Of reading one more
mystery tale. THE Step on the starr
, rich man with lovely daughter.
Two nephews, cousins. Two wills
! covering these nephews, one only De-
coming effective under certain contln-
! Eencies. Later, one of these wills
i destroyed by the testator. the other
one hidden. The murder Of the rich man.
! Thereafter, search for the criminal and
the hidden will. Meanwhile the wooing
of the daughter of the rival cousins.
That is all. Nothing out of the ordi-
nary upon the. face of this matter.
Nevertheless, the story has one fresh
element, inasmuch as. despite the
clear fact of crime, there is no VII
lain in this complex. And, again, the
! art of storytelling has grown ripe
| In the waywise practice Of this writer:
| One moves along over wide sweeps or
I consistent narrative with momen-
| tunl that makes him take. easily and
perhaps unconsciously, the occasional
stretches of implausibility and doubt
| one is not likely TO put the story
down until 1t is finished. which Is,
after all. a pretty good test of Its
quality.
MANS COUNTRY. BY Peter Clark
Macfarlane. author of Held to
Charles d. Mitchell New York;
Cosmopolitan Book Corporation.
Peter Macfarlane. by way Of this
romance, gives geographical defini-
| ton to Mans Country. 1t is the Land
of Business. bounded north, south
| east and west by a Chinese wall of
exclusion. securing it to men alone.
| 1t is a land of enchantment. absorb
| ing the days and nights, the actions
and the dreams Of its inhabitants. To
! be sure this male citizency does put
up the appearance of having interest
| in other things than business-in
home and wife and children. in diver
sions OF one sort and another-but
this is only an appearance. The sub
stance of life to these is business.
This is the foundation OF the story
! in hand It's action hinges. first ana
! foremost, on the automobile business,
of which George Hudson is making
an astonishing success. It's minor ac-
ton consists of the adjustments that
business and the facts Of home ana
family. A believable and engaging
pair-Georse Hudson h and ID his i,tsrest- S1fe
| ing atory Mr.. Macfarlane makes or
ths rivalry that finally gr9ws 0ns wen Rene
ders ahou. the conclusion. Does a
man. wholly absorbed in the fasci-