Evening star., 1923-11-20
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
THE WHITE FLAG. Gene Stratton-
Porter. Doubleday Page & Co.

THE WHITE FLAG. Gene Stratton-
Porter. Doubleday. Page & Co.
"The proof of the pudding Is in the
eatfng"-so the cookery adage runs.
A homely saying, concerned not at all
with either the laws Of modern do
mestic science or the arts Of epicu-
rean refinement. In practical effect,
however, conclusive. Whether sound
or not. goes back interminably-back
possibly to original sin and natural
depravity. Such truth as the saying
holds, spiced as 1t Is with question
and controversy, fits it to cover vastly
more than the literal succuIent prod
uct of the cooks art from which the
familiar maxim sprang. Indeed, in
substance. it lies close to the roots Of
popular government and near to many
another democratic. practice Under
catch phrases like delivering the
goods" and getting results" it makes
boast OF the usages of business and
enterprise. plainly disdainful Of fine
spun theories expert in origin. In
writing IL is. the same. Here, too,
"the proof of the pudding is In the
eating" And at least three American
writers, in proof of the quality of
their literary puddings. are able to
point to big and affectionate pub
lie. to enormous sales, to an increas-
ing demand, to substantial fortunes.
over these novelists the great critics
may shiver and the highbrows may
shrug. Mr.. Mencken may rave. But
the public goes on demanding and
these prolific writer's go on producing.
\ y X
Gene Stratton-Porter is one of these
three or more. Interesting as a per-
son, interesting as writer. A forth
right individual with nothing of sub
terfuge and almost as little of subt-
tlety, her career stands out in three
well defined periods. Born to the
love of nature, reared in the beauty
and generosity of it's friendship, Gene
Stratton's early writings were no
more than the joyous records Of days
lived in the open, no more than the
family secrets Of bird life and plant
life let out in an artless freedom by
this young nature lover. Sketches SO
alive and spontaneous came to read
ers like some fresh discovery. Pop
ular at once. Then came the time
when a thread Of story wound It's way
through the nature lore which stood.
and still stands, as this writer's most
precious possession. Half a dozen and
more of these mature novels belong
to this second period. Tell me a
story" is a magic phrase, potent with
both young and old alike. So the
story element here, slight though il
was at first. supplied the human
touch. produced the effect Of human
partaking, hitherto lacking, and gave
a tremendous impulse to the popular
ity of Mrs. Porter's work. This period
comedies also with the entrance Of
mature study" into general education.
These stories, supplementing this
movement, provided joyous refresh
ment to thousands after many dry
ture teachers" Another factor in the
notable success Of this writer.
n X x 4
For the making Of THE White
Flag" Gene Stratton-Porter turns her
back squarely on the nature life that
she has so much loved, that she has
made others love SO much. Turns
her back squarely, goes into the house
and shuts the door. This is to be a
purely human story, engrossed ex-
clusively with human behaviors. Set
in an average town Of the near west.
the story follows four children
through school days and wooing days
and wedding days. Junior. Jason
Mahala, Elizabeth - the rich mans
son, the washerwoman's boy and the
two girls. Mahala is the heroine of
this tale She is the object of Junior s
early desire and of Jason's secret de-
votion. Mahala is q nice child. sur
viving by sheer miracle an upbring-
ing calculated to make of her no more
than a pert and pretentious little
miss. 1t is not easy to trace the
sequence set here by the author be-
tween this pampered girl and the
woman whose spirit is wrecked by a
Nemesis of deadly ingenuity and per-
sistence. Nemesis is long on retribu-
ton and she gets a running start in
this game when Mahala proves cool
to the advances of the ardent Junior.
In the twinkling of an eye she sets
Juniors father, Martin Moreland, boss
of the town, at Mahala's father
the money screws down tight upon
him. The ruined man, however, has
O. Single resource, which he calls into
speedy activity. This is secret
malady of such high efficiency as to
take him off at once. leaving Mahala
looking after herself.
And Mahala goes TO work at a
makeshift Of sewing, which leads her
one day right into the Moreland
household. Through the fine team
work of Junior and his father, money
is stolen while the girl is in the
house. So Mahala goes to Jail.
In the meantime Junior had sought
to relieve the tortures OF uurequited
love by marrying Elizabeth. 1t is on
their wedding journey, or very soon
thereafter, that abeth-leanins
far over "a balcony rail for a better
view of Junior down the shadows in
soft dalliance with pretty serVins
girl-loses her balance. fails TO the
ground, breaks her neck. That set
ties Elizabeth.
Without sufficient evidence to con-
vict her Mahala is by this time out OF
jan. She has betaken herself to the
outskirts of the town, where lies a
tiny estate. that remnant of fallen
fortunes which provident authors
Commonly provide for beautiful hero
ines in distress. Here with the aid
of the faithful Jason she is quite
coming to life again. Then one DAY
Jason gets married to girl down the
road a piece and, in the course OF
time, they have a baby. You see
Jason thought he had secret evidence
mat Mahala was really thief. Now
when he finds out that he was mis-
taken, completely forgetting that he
has a wife and baby of his own, he
has loved her all the time. His wife
sees this meeting-by chance, as
wives do. When Jason gets back
home she tells him to take the baby
to Mahala, that 1t is her baby. Puz-
rag nv now. Jason does as he is told
You're crazy" or words to that eff
feet. says Mahala. You take that
baby straight back home" AT the
time it is storming. something fierce
wind, thunder. lightning, RAIN nc
end. lust as they set out there
COMES a fash crash, a bang