Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1925-02-19

to rest on the rim OF the spectacles:
the nat cheeks, of a greasy, unhealthy
complexion, were merely smudges by
the miserable poverty Of thin. dark
whisker. The lamentable inferiority Of
the whole physique was made ludicrous
by the supremely self-confident bearing
OF the individual. His speech was curt,
and he had particularly impressive
manner OF keeping silent"
Yet this little man was the terror OF
the London secret service. for he car
rfed with him. day and night, enough
explosive to blow himself and a score
of men into Kingdom come. They knew
he would do It, too. rather than submit
to arrest. That was his strength,
In thick flask In his coat pocket he
carried the stuff. But let Conrad make
the professor tell how he did It.
Il walk always with my right hand
closed around the india rubber bulb
which have in my trouser pocket. The
pressing of this ball actuates a detona-
tor inside the flask 1 carry In my
pocket. It's the principle Of the pneu-
matte instantaneous shutter for CAM
era lens. The tube leads up-"'
The gentle character continued:
Il have the means to make myself
deadly, but that by itself, you under
stand. is absolutely nothing in the way
of protection. What is effective Is the
belief those people have In my will to
use the means. That's their impression.
1t is absolute. Therefore. am deadly"
That the PROFESSIONALISM was the
only name he had-was not lying
was shown some time later, when
Chief Inspector Heat met him in a
dark alley. The police officer warned
whereupon Is reCounted as curious a
w q n
book covers The police had no rea-
son to place the blame for the bomb
outrage at the observatory on the
professor-they knew every move he
had made-but they were suspicious.
just the same. In the colloquy be-
| tween the two in the alley each wins
the inspector on the moral side and
tical side. The officer dared not ap-
proach him. He knew the man did
not fear death for himself
X X < X
Although Conrad undoubt eddy
meant the character of Winnie Verloc
to be the most appealing. probably
in her brother Stevie. the degen-
crate" than in her. She is too in
tense, almost, to be human.
But Stevie Is very human. Lack
ing the balancing power of a good
brain. he has just enough sense to
| recall the cruelty of his childhood.
His mind finds difficulty in getting
| hold of abstract ideas.
The terrible resentment which the
boy undergoes when he sees anything
| cruel is the bright spot in an other
| wise harassing picture. For, taken
| all in all, when any one can respond
| so readily to the effects of cruelty on
| others, he has much good in him.
That Is. indeed. the basis for all
the modern movement toward the
protection of animals. We are only
civilized when our Tree is easily
aroused at the sight of some one
kicking a dog or cruelty beating a
horse.
Bad world for Door people-bad
world for poor people" stammered
| Stevie in the greatest sustained
speech OF his life. So he fell an easy
| and deposit it at the wall of the
) observatory.
The way the assistant commission
err Of police comes it over Inspector
Heat for holding out information On
him Is very well handled. The cut
back" in time, introduced with chap
ter 8, giving happenings prior to the
bombing, Is a strain on the reader
and seems to me a very poor piece
| Of plot handling. l wonder il less
successful author than Conrad could
have gotten away with it.
The Secret Agent" by the way, is
the book that contained-in 1907
the sentence:
Unhappy Europe, Thou shalt
perish by the moral insanity OF thy
children"