Evening star., 1924-11-02
rHE pIPERs OF THE MARKET

"SHE had given loyalty all her
- life. and had got bad faith for
Fer giving. She had grown herb
honesty in the garden of her soul,
and tended it faithfully.
She had suffered the mutable
changeless nature, bound by
promise, held by vow, as though
chained to the living rock.
And she had believed herself
deSolate. as tree on reef in the
ocean, without heart to ring true
upon hers, or a faith to answer her
own. But she had been wrong
The Lord was good Ay! better
than her deserving. Her loyalty was
mirrored back from the eyes of the
traitors SON.
That is Malvina-one of the
SIP endid creatures of romance. That
is Malyina with her. son Stephen
he .boy-spleEdid. too. A long story,
fine in its human stuff, fine in de-
velopment and conclusion. Only the
patient reader, however keen to
beauty and excellence. will follow 1t
through, since the whole of it is
phraSed in the peasant dialect OF
midland England-as no doubt it had
10 be. An almost insuperabie OBJ
STAGE. nevertheless, save to those
who recognize and pursue the beautl-
ful quality of the whole.
II. r. ID. NO J. BY Homer Croy, author
of West of the Water Tower,
etc, New York: Harper e. Broth
ers
The title of Homer Croys new
novel points the rural quality of its
general setting. A community of the
Middle West, this, pictured in the
rcaliSm that permits no hen to lay an
uncounted egg even. A locality and
method just now tremendously pop
ular a locality and a method that.
conjoined is today making romance
d. dull and wearyin' thing, no matter
how triumphant the partnership may
be as a preservative of local custom
or show conclusive it may be as an
exponent of the noble art of pure
realism. Suddenly, as most things
come these days, there rush upon
this community, the automobile, the
telephone, the dance craze, the beauty
contest and the far cry of Holly
wood. And every girl who isn't ugly
enough to stop clock loses her head
and envisages herself Mary Pick
ford or Gloria Swanson. This beauty
malady, this world-conqueSt disease
is what set off pretty Josie Decker,
living out on the +. +. D. No. line
The story covers year of Josle's
life--a busy year. All ready to be
married-'ki kitchen shower all over
and everything. but the wedding. No,
Josie couldn't stand it. She must be
free-free. The young man, sensible
youth, turned around and married
another girl. But Josie went away
with an out-andout worldly fellow.
who was going to help her to her
chance in the world However, by his
untoward act of stealing an auto
mobile and getting into Jail Josie
was estopped from going very far on
her career So she had to come back
10 r. F. D. No. 8. Too bad. Quite
700 bad about poor Josie. But there
was still another man left along No.
3 who thought mighty well of Josie
and didn't care-well,' never mind
that. But he had good farm, and
people held him up well as a real
man-and what could a girl do. when
actual trouble was just ahead of her.
and just acres of shattered air castles
behind her. So she married the good
fellow, and, no doubt, made him a
good wife. They often do. they say.
Yes, very real and beautifully real
istic in projection-but dull, and
dull. One takes it that these Mid
die West realists can't help the dull
ness. 1t is the olin1ute and the
method that play the mischief with
them. >, ---,->- . -.-n-.,.-.r
A GENTLEMAN OF COURAGE. By
James Oliver Curwood, author of
'Kazan,' etc. illustrated by Rob-
ert W. Stewart New York: Cosmo-
politan Book Corporation.
In part this is the story of a man
hunt by the Canadian police. In part
1t is the picture of an ideal pioneer
community off the north shore of
Lake Superior And in part, also. it
Is the romance of young Peter McRae
and Mona Guyon. waits both-one
cast up by storm on the lake. the
other drawn in from the deep wilder
ness stretching away behind the set
Element. These clements unite at the
settlement. Five Fingers, where
Donald McRae, the hunted man, had
sent his little boy. Peter. to the safe
keeping Of his friend. Simon McQuar
rie, and where the good Pierre
Gourdon was fathering the little Mona.
The friendship of this boy and girl.
together with their equal friendship
for the abundant wild life SO close
around them, provides the most de-
iightful aspect of this story of the
wilderness. Near to it in interest is
the friendliness and, fair dealing Of
all the members of this little COM
munfty, one with another The
harsher side of the story comes with
tho pursuit of Donald McRae for a
crime that any man would have COM
mitted under the circumstances, had
he been a man. The real nobility of
this hunted man serves, finally to
turn one of the pursuers toward him
in bonded fealty and away from the
profession to which he; had given long
and distinguished service. A many
sided story Of pioneer life, whose out
standing effect among it's many rough
and dangerous experiences is that of
an understanding and friendly unity
between this group of settlers and
the wide and wild, world of nature
around them. A certain pittleSs quail
ity Of this remote and untamed corner
Of the world is here softened and made
compliant by the kindly human beings
that live SO simply and beautifully to-
gether in the North Superior settle :.
ment of Five Fingers.
THE OLD MEN OF THE SEA. By
Compton Mackenzie, author of
Carnival" etc. New York: Fred
erick y. Stokes Company.
Compton Maskenzie's romance of ad-
venture in the South Seas is projected,
clearly, in the conviction that looking
forward to, a. thing is better than ac-
tually arriving at it. In a word, that
the real SAVIOR OF adventure lies, much
more often than otherwise, in the bright
maginings that light up the approaches
to it. So, nearly half of Mr.. Macken-
zies romance goes into the get
ting ready to get ready to sail
off into the South. Pacific. From
the moment that the suspiciously glow
ing advertisement of the. rSouth Seas
settlement Co., Ltd appears, till the
expedition is afloat there is the most
prodigious to-do rounding up passengers
and cargo and crew Of the Octoroon.
And this is where the real fun Of the
q; &c xuh he