Evening star., 1924-10-05
Reviews of New Books

atmospheres, in the lure of its i'm
plieations.
SIEGE rERlLOCS. BY Maud Diver,
author Of Lonely F>urroW." etc.
Boston: Houghton. Mifflin Com
pany.
A group OF short stories from
well known writer of long stories.
These, like the latter, deal. in the
main. with the English in India and
with the reaction Of the natives to
the civilization supeFimposed upon
their older one by the foreigner. 1t
is a field in which the author is much
at home and one which she transfers
in vivid strokes to the eye and then
to the mind Of the reader. All Of
these tales, according to the writer.
arc either taken from life itself or
are suggested by some actual Incl
dent to which she has added the
legitimate embellishments OF inver-
ton. A dozen OF them, all told, each
calculated to bring entertainment
from practiced hand to those who
find enjoyment In these English YER
sionS OF life in India. The book is
bound to bring up discussions AZ to
this authors comparative skill with
the short story and the novel, the
former somewhat new to her hand,
the latter sourcing and sustaining
erable noveIsts OF the Far East.
But--that is another side to the
question. The matter in hand is a
group of romantic and virile stories
with excellent entertainment in them.
POLLYANNA or THE ORANGE
BLOSSOMS. BY Harriet Lummis
Smith. author of Peggy Ray
mond's Way" etc. Illustrated by
II. Weston TAYLOR. Boston: l.. G..
Page e. Co.
Pollyanna. it appears, has created
following for herself, one quite
apart from the stodGy group that
thinks it's part Is done when il turns
contemptueus smile toward the
glad" books that Pollyanna adorns.
Youth must be served. so the young
folks say, as they demand another
Pollyanna story. Nothing to do now
with the girl except to marry her
of-and that is what the author does.
One of the stodgy ones myself. | say.
as ] come upon Pollyanna address,
ing her own wedding invitations.
We'll, I'll read a page or two here
and a page or two there-just enough
to get the hang of the thing" So,
begin with PollyannA at the begin
ming And there's something about
the girl. her honest happiness. just
hearty enjoyment of the coming
wedding-might be somebody else's.
for her frank enthusiasm over it
that makes me go right along, for
getting TO turn up my lip in dis
illusioncd wisdom for single once.
even go TO the wedding. sitting
right down in front. And thereafter
l tag along with this young couple
whenever their privacy opens suf1i
q "A
delighted as a grandmother over the
birth OF the baby and with all the
other family to-do of this pair, and
at the last minute I am almost hys-
terically nervous through the fear
that James, jr., isn't going to know
his father come back from the war
with a captains badge upon his uni
form. Perfectly Groundless fear. for
who would put such a failure as the
end of very charming story. which
il it is GLAD story is of quality
10 confer honor upon the entire
group.
THE DARK CHAPTER. BY L. J.
RATH. author Of The Nervous
Howard Watt.
Pure comedy. The comedy of Wade
wings, gentleman, who having
hearu OF tne Rood woman VINO Spe-
cialized in tramps. redeeming them
to their own self-respect and the rest
of it. took upon himself the role of
hobo and presented himself at the
handsome country house of this lady
Chauffeur, in the twinkling Of an eye,
the tramp becomes, one, too. of such
impeccable virtues in this capacity
as to stand the pattern for all of the
craft to follow. Then. friend of the
family, then-well, you sit down for