Evening star., 1925-11-22

stories Of life in the Little karoo, vet
each of them is saturated with the
airs and incidents Of that life. and
each of them sinks down into the read
er's heart, where pity and sympathy
and the universal loneliness of man
nests in a feeling Of brotherhood.
beautiful stories Of life that the writer
knows as well as she knows her own
heart. Simple, austere, sincere pic
lures.
PARADE. BY Emily Post, author of
"Etiquette." New York: Funk &
Wagnalls Company.
A NOVEL of New York society,
wherein three generations help
comDetently to sustain the pageant
that appears to constitute the sub
stance Of tSat society. The story be-
gins off somewhere, in small town,
IN so slight a matter as the dreams of
young girl about the world of pleas
ure and beauty away in some great
city beyond her reach. Then comes
her chance. SO she rejects her coun-
try lover and marries the city man
who seems to be the road of her re-
lease. lie is The heroine of this story
Is that same country girl metamor-
phosed, by Il kind of Black Oxen"
process, into marvellous beauty of
perpetual youth. 4 widow, out-shin-
ing the daughters Of her friends and
looking like an elder sister to the
grandchildren of her friends A dogs
life. though, as any aging woman,
with only "a spark of such ambition
can tell you. The author paints with
sure hand here the picture Of a woman
IN bond TO the perpetuation of her
youthful appearance.
Then. one d3V NJ MON ~.
pears-a man out Of the East with
career looking exactly like that Of
young Lawrence, the Englishman who.
during the war, did such good serv-
ice in rounding up the Arab tribes and
turning them over to the use Of Cen
Allenby in Palestine. The young Law
renee about whom Lowell Thomas
has written so fascinating an account
These two. the eternally beautiful
woman and the strange man out of
the East, are the elements that bring
point and conference to the shifting
scenes Of the New York parade a
novel of serious intent, one designed
to trace. rigidly, the Rogic of events
in Il career of selfiShness devoted ex-
clusiVely to the defiance of time and
the preservation of personal charm
Naturally, the ending of such a story
is personal defeat on the one hand
set of against the contentment of
those whose mission in life is less
eccentric in conception and pursuit 4
Waywise handling of the pageantry of
society goes along, naturally. with the
development of this spirit of pure self
iShneSS.
THE PYRAMID OF LEAD. BY Bert
ram Atkey. New York: d. Apple
ton and Company
EFT the mystery here take care of
itself. 1t is much like all the mys-
terry stuff-a hidden treasure whose
pursuit rounds up three murders. all
or such strange circumstance as to
defy detection at the hands of the ia
miliar crime trailers. Instead, Just
go along with Prosper Fair and his
sedate silver gray donkey, Patience.
and the brisk little terrier, Plutus.
With them you will camp in the open
and roam through the fields. all three
engaged every minute in the most con
fidential talk about that rabbit in the
hedge. of that forage in the field or
the leafy bed for tonight and the good
supper for all three. "Southwards. !
think, Patience" says Prosper Fair
to the donkey, for | have an instinct
that to the South lies adventure, and
adventure is what we seek Ten days
now have we wandered the byways,
but nothing has occurred. We have
encountered no ladies in distress, nor
have we found villains engaged in
villainy, conspirators occupied with
conspiracy. a quiet tour, Patience
mine. but deep down within me, quad
ruped, feel stirring an instinct. a pre-
monition of adventure. | have had
many premonitions in my life. Patti
enCe-most of them wrong-but never
one quite so intense or convincing as
this of which l am now conscious. )"
The instinct is all right. SO you so
along with Prosper Fair and his dog
Plutus. patience was, through no
fault of his own. eliminated from the
adventure. PlutuS was, too. in intent,
but he refused to stay eliminated)
With them you will come face to face
with the mystery of the leaden pyra-
mid. And a neater piece of detection
you will not meet in many a day than
the one in which you will engage here
with Prosper Fair. And a more joy
Gus vagabond of a detective than
Prosper Fair-gentleman and lover
you simply will not meet again at ALL
THE CHEERFUL FRAUD. BY X. r.
G. Browne. New York: G.. p. Put
nam's Sons.
A FARCICAL to-do. brimming with
laughter. whose basis is the
laggard way of a young Englishman
back from America to meet the obliga-
tions of a titled inheritance. And the
nearer that Mike Fairlie--now Sir
Michael Fairlie-approached this wind
fall of title and fortune the more lag
gard grew his spirit in it's response to
these material blessings. BY this time
a travel-worn and somewhat rough
looking youth. SO the old man in dis
tress over the pesky behavior of his
brand-neW car did not hesitate to call
upon this foot traveller for aid. Now
II there was one thing in the world
that Mike knew, inside and out. better
than another it was a motor. no mat
ter to what ill-begotten and fractions
breed it belonged. And Mike fell to
upon that car, reducing it immediate
ly to a Christian sobriety of behavior.
And the old man, all gratitude, offered
Sir Michael Fairlie a Job. Mike threw
the Sir" over his shoulder and took
II at once.
This is just the beginning of
thinSs-not many miles from Kings
Fortune, the ancient seat of the Fair
lie house--in which Mike played the
steady role of servant to this new
rich family. A pretender to the Fair
ne tltle appeared, prime 1mperSona-
tor of the real thing in nobility, too. A
huge theft excited the deluded house
hold that was harboring both Michaels
at once. Happenings fell over one
another to arrive in time to keep ex-
cltement at the proper pitch. Mike
was enjoying himself tremendously
and, beside that, he was developing a
true romance-under difficulties it is
true, but making progress neverthe-
less. The whole involved situation
sweeps along in a clean west wind of
robust incidents and in a gale of
spontaneous fun and laughter.