Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1923-06-17

worth of these friends of her child
hood. This same good substance
discriminates keenIy between the old,
tried values anc those of the later
improved days Some Of the other
characters here are exceptionally
well turned out All Of them are be
llevable. good romance grows
slowly and interestingly through the
genera activities Of this busy small
town in d corner of Vermont.
MERRY o. BY Ethel Hueston. IL
Illustrated by Edward C. Caswell.
Indianapolis: The Bobbs- Merrill
Company.
This adventure is run. from start TO
finish, by one of those super girls
who. in stories. rush gaily into any
sort OF undertaking and as gaily rush
out again, victory invariably perched
upon their banners. Merry o is the
girl. The household purse about
empty Merry o purchased a second.
hand fiivver and bundled her family
into 1.-THE two younger sisters
father and herself Father was q
Methodist preacher, superannuated. an
equal blend of saint and ba by. Along
the road father was to sell Bibles and
! tracts, Merry o was to offer the say
lngs of Coue. Freud and Mrs. Eddy.
according to the choice of the rural
population. One of the sisters.
! frivolous girl, had little kit OF
beauty stuff for sunburnt and blowzy
farmer women and girls. This was
the outfit-just load of lambs ready
{ for the fleeing. And but for those
super powers Of Merry o that is what
would have happened TO them every
few minutes. But not with Merry @
on hand. AT the last there is the
most tremendous adventure of all
| this too settling into peace and quiet
lde through the mastery manipula
tons OF Merry o. Indeed, ii is a good
story. Its eXuberanCe is of the brigh
and engaging sort. its rather impos-
SlbIe events are given out with a high
hand, the girls are delightful, all Of
them. Father is a JOY And tn.
young man, the only enc 10 put in al
appearance but just about the right
Find for Merry @. is clearly d I'm"
fellow If YOU care TO see these girls
Just look at the charming pictures %:
them that Mr.. CaSwell has made
Now you may say about this whole
matter. Nonsense This is Just an
other Of those glad young PoIlyanna
stories and 50 il is, but it is a good
one and you Will read every bit of il
with enjoyment. TOO And YOU are
not so young. The really young folks
the girls. will call ii great story
THE RIDER ON THE LINKS. BY
Agatha Christie, author of The
Secret Adversary" etc. New York
Dodd, Mead & Co.
A wide open field Cor guilt here
} Since there was no reason in the
world for the murder of respectable
NJ. Renauld. suspicion few broadcast.
touching dozen points at once, only
o ny of again in many new di-
rectlonS of quest and defeat And
+! this, TO be sure, is the very ground
| for the writer Of mystery tales To
pre-empt with joy as his own special
| domain. Rather more than the usual
number of clewS are picked UP here
| in great enthusiasm and then let fall
| in discourage since they lead
nowhere. rather more than
| usually expert detective, good old
/ Hercule Poirot. functions here under
| the familiar jealousy of whipper-
! snapper rivals. who say the usual
! d'srespectful things about his old
| fashioned methods And after in
! Vulnerable ms and outs and round
+. abuuts. the murder of NJ Renauld
becomes as plain as day itself There
| is NJ considerable flaw in this eXctt,
! ing ,ale of mystery and murder II
| there were ii would lie in the hint
J of oNercomplicatiOn that now and
! then suggests itself There is a cls&ar
! temptation for the author OF the mn :
| terry story to multiply clews. ThsfbEE
| the mystery becomes deeper. But the
moment any clew loses plausibility
! thinning out To palpable artifice, rkt
! that moment distinct loss to the
| whole sets in. Probably this is the
| of fiction. However this is d good
| weaken seriously the texture Of the