Evening star., 1924-03-23
EUROPE AND ELSEWHERE. BY
Mark Twain. New York: Harper

sketches. A few Of them
have had a previous print
ing. The most of them. not
They include the Garden of Eden.
where Twain spends day looking
around, listening in upon a soliloquy
by Adam and a monologue. by Eve.
Outside the garden he has set-to
with Satan himself. In Europe there
is lazy and truly delightful journey
down the Rhone. Besides, he has
quite considerable commerce with
AK and Marienbad to both OF which
resorts Mark Twain went in pretty
good health, from both of which he
emerged with a comprehensive cata-
fogue of ailmentS-gathered in out or
the atmosphere and the exclusive
prevalence of thache
softening OF the brain. nostalgia.
bronchitis, fits. Coleoptera, hydrangea,
Cyclopaedia Britannica, delirium tire
mems, and a lot of other things. all
listed and in his possession as evi-
dence. Temperance, woman's rights,
art, patriotism, Bible teaching, relig-
ious practice, and other equally live
matters engage the attention of this
alert man. He takes a very special
joy in Marjorie F7eming-wo onder
child" to whom he claims the tie OF
brotherhood by virtue of the follow
ing note from the hand of Marjorie
II am now going 10 tel you the hor-
rible and wretched plaege (plasue).
that my multiplication gives me you
cant conceive ii the most DevlliSh
thing is s times s & times it is
what nature itself can endure" Mark
Twain admits that he has adored
Marjorie for six and-thirty years. II
have adored her in detail. | have
adored the whole of her. but above
all other details I have adored her
because she detested that odlous and
confusing and unvanquishab bic and
unlearnable and shameless invention
the multiplication table. 1t is a
latter-day fashion to shade off on the
humor of Mark Twain. to obscure
this supreme fact Iabout him-aS if ii
were something able-under
imposing statements that Twain is,
primarily. great philosopher. great
patriot and statesman. great this or
that. Very likely: Let the pundits
have their way. All the same. he is
savor and zest and peculiar quality of
his humor. Thank Albert Bigelow
Paine for this book He deserves
much gratitude.
THE LAVENDER DRAGON. BY Eden
Phillpotts. author of pan and the
Twins" etc. New York: The Mac
milan Company.
Nigh about the middle of the Dark
Ages, when ignorance. greed and su-
perstition largely ruled the world
pretty much. in fact. = do these
forces at present-a knight and his
squire proceeded to their destination
under the setting sun. Thus begins
the story OF Sir Jasper de- Pomeroy,
who, with his squire, George P1pkln.
set out to fight a dragon--a monster
most horrific. thirty rods from beak
to tail. blue as the Sky, with wings
~ roll o6
gold. As the creature moved along
the earth or through the air it emit
ted the strong scent OF lavender-a
sort of poison gas attack. maybe, that
permitted him to seize and carry OF
men. women and children The point
OF the matter. however, is that Sir
Jasper himself. filled with the fire
and fury of conquest. with the zeal
borne away by the dragon. And
thereafter dire and portentous things
came to pass. In a simplicity that
begets complete belief on the part
of the reader, Mr.. Phillpotts creates
parable of modern social life out
of the picturesque stuff of old beliefs.
carrying this forward in an imagery
that projects truth in both its beauty
and its ugliness. Under the parable
of that lavender dragon Of the Dark
Ages the author points the evolution
of our moral nature. Weakening from
long dalliance Ythere moves the spirit
of good will, struck into a cruel coma
by the torment of recent years.
Mighty powers are they, to help hu-
manity correct its values. purify its
ambitions and seek those Ideals OF
generosity, abnegation and selfish
purpose, without which no pathway
Of advancement through darkness
into day can be discovered. Dawn is
upon the mountain tops and, as the
sun rises, light will descend into the
homes and hearts of mankind
TEMPER BY Lawrence Fl. Conrad.
New York: Dodd. Mead & Co.
There is one sport of realism-the
commoner sort-whose effect is that
OF fidelity to the subject in hand.
There is another sort-one that gives
an impression Of the author digging
down into the deep. essential truth
Of a matter and then actually fight
ing for words of blunt body and cut
ting edge as the only tolerable vehi-
Gle of that which he has TO deliver.
One gets that effect in the stories of
Anzia Yezierska. Allowing for tenn
and woman, one gets that effect here.
There is a. deliberate and stark real
ism here that causes the more usual
realism to seem suave and super
today. Specifically, it, presents the
life of a big automobile factory. A
huge machine-men and all. 1t
moves along, in the main, through
Paul Rinelli-his slow progress. his
slight advances, his occasional re-
treats under the motion of the huge
machine of which he is the tiniest
The deeply interesting phase of the
story. however, comes through the
thoughts and feelings and ambitions
and dramatic situations that march
Rinelli and get expression here in
the fellows only slightly American
ICED mode of speech. 1t is the inside
of him talking while his hands do
automatically their job as part of the
big machine. A very striking story
in it's manner; one that is also plausi-
BILE in its action, set in modern con-
ditions, and consistently unspectacu-
lar in its outcome.
THE JOYOUS ADVENTURER. BY
Ada Barnett. New York: G. p
Putnam's Sons.
Along a narrow path, up the hill to-
ward the wood where his tiny house.
was hidden, the professor was walk
ing one day, when right in his path
he saw a baby lying with nothing at
all to wear save the scrap of shawl
in which he was wrapped. That is
10 know, about the origin of the baby
who grew to be the boy Copper
Top" and the bigger boy who was al
ways Copper Top" A curious story
worked out III d uelicdcy VI peduty
that gives the whole an elusive quail
ity that one is most anxious to catch
and hold. The founding becomes-is-
a creature close and near to nature.
The years only add to his friendship
for the wild things of the woods and
fields and streams. He is one with
them. Around him are the absorbed
and distracted professor. his house
keeper-an Irish woman of Galway
and, in the course Of time, two other
chiIdren Not half understanding
Copper Top, all of these love this
beautiful boy creature. He appears to
have been born, one thinks. as st.
Francis of Assist finally came to be,