Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1925-10-25
WAYS THAT ARE WARY. BY
Lemuel De Bra. New York: Ed

Sa1S Thai AXE "Ah1. 10y
Lemuel De Bra. New York: Ed
ward ]. Clode, Inc.
LIE sat huddled and in-drawn beside
his ironing boarG under the dim
light of his little place. two steps down
from the street. He wasn't doing any
thing, but he was doing nothing in "a
kind Of avid intensity What was he
thinking about-this Chinese laundry
man. so clearly many miles away from
the open streets of this cheerful Amer
lean city? ] wondered. / went back
again to that hunched and unforgett-
able figure when, a day or so later, |
came upon ways That Are Wary"
stories Of San Francisco's Chinatown,
in each of which / instinctivefy set my
downstairs Chinaman of Thirteenth
street. Was he dreaming of the mar
riage broker, who for a good sum
would procure him wife-that fpomp-
Gus and capable broker in wives out
San Francisco Way-or was he Wonder-
ing how in this correct community ne
might, just possibly, take on still an
other wife? Maybe, like the youth IN
this story, he was deyising evil IN the
name of filial piety, or wondering nc"
he could circumyent the strange laws
of this land in order to commit a muir
der that was TO him an act of Chinese
/
ink none of these things-maybe only
waiting for a customer TO take away
his clean collar. But his tense and
troubled face spoke Of much besides
such simple things to me. So, in these
tales of Chinatown-so strange in cast,
so alien in color, so weird in effect,
| SO fascinating withal-I have set as
prime mover among them the little
! Chink of Thirteenth street, who, may
| be, was just sick with the most awful
| of all ailments-homesickn nome
! sick for his native soil and for his race
and for the immemorial customs that
have irretrievably set the quality and
course of his blood.
| Ks X
DOCTOR RICARDO. BY William y.
Garrett, author of Friday to Mon
day" New York: d. Appleton &
Co.
| GETTING out upon the detective
y story of the present one scans
every newcomer to see if, maybe, this
| is the supersleuth that nowadays so
dominates the mystery tale. There
| fore, when the really remarkable fig
ure of DIR. Ricardo appears fellow
| so easy and finished. so in command
| of himself, so ready and versatile, so
] altogether engaging-one settles back,
satisfied that the great detective is on
| hand Nothing of the sort. This
amazing person has an altogether diff
| ferent role in the accumulation of
dark business that packs this mystery
to the limit. The real detective is an
American come to England in search
| of some papers that are doing active
service as blackmailers. This search,
seemingly by accident. becomes mixed
ur with a very revolving crime in
whose detection the American finds
| himself unwittingly engaged as a part
of his errand TO England. DR.. Ricar-
| do, at first something like self-consti
| tuted partner of the American, grad
| ually assumes role of his own whose
nature is calculated 10 keep one guess
| ing for the full allotment Of time
| allowed for the development Of a mys
terry tale. InterestinC-but of all
| kinds of adventure the mystery tale
| has it pretty much its own way with
eager readers of fiction. However.
this uncalled-for reflection should have
no bearing here upon a really exciting
| invention.