Evening star., 1925-09-24

/ reader Is apt to feel the opposite.
| moments reflection reveals the con
sistency OF the character.
Il * Il Is
Cheri- Bibi murders before break
| and strangles foe after dinner, but
| 1t is all done in much the spirit OF !"
| thoughtless boy trying TO have fun
| with his pet dog.
The artless Cheri -Bibi-surely no
| story ever had such a hero before
| is the victim of fate and ill-mck TO
such an extent that he wins ones ad-
! mira ton. His compatriots. Little
| Buddha. the kanaka. the Countess.
| Topper, Carrots and others among the
convicts are characters that have
reality.
His life story. as coolly told TO the
captain OF the Inflated vessel just be-
| fore the mutiny. is "A very clever piece
OF work. and lays the foundation for
the remainder of the tale, and the
| sequel as well.
1t is in this chapter. especially, that
the ability of the author is manifested.
| The underlying idea, the way it is
| worked out, Is good.
| AS necessary depression, it has a
| somewhat similar one in Conrad s
| ''rhe Secret Agent" reduced to the
| work Of a tyro. The action is not held
| back for a second, but is. in fact.
| furthered by the very depression, an
achievement Of no mean quality in
| itself.
, The memories of the lovely Cecily
form veritable lyric before the
+, storm caused by the revolt of the
| convicts. The ensuing pictures are
| lifelike. / make no attempt here to
give the complete story Of these tales,
| because | want the reader to enjoy
| them in fun when ne gets time to
| look them up.
| II is enough to say that Ma kline du
| Touchais. marquis. who had married
| cheri Ribi's beloved recily. is ship
wrecked with party. and is rescued
, by the convicts. posing as captain and
! crew
! The possibilities are large. and our
! author makes the most of them. Even
the reader, however. must gasp At
! the concluding scenes, in which the
| infamous kanaka, A renegade sur.
geon, at the request Of our villain.
hero. CRAFTS the complete face and
| hands Of the Marquis onto Cheri-
Bihi
In Missing Men Cheri- Bib goes
10 seek his old love, and finds her,
the lovely Cecily. who had been 80
abused by the real Marquis. The
UNIQUE masquerade carries the reader
along despite himself in order TO find
out what Cheri- Bibi will do next.
Cheri. Bibi does plenty.
His old pals, Little Buddha. the
| Kanaka and the other birds Of evil
| find their way back TO France. too
| in order TO prey upon their former
| leader. now comfortably ensconced as
| the Marquis and husband OF CecilS
he al
The strange part OF ii is that
| Leroux makes the reader sympathiZe
with Cheri Bib. He does not do II
| by telling you to. but simply by a
| fine handling OF the characters and
| their doings and aspirations.
| In order to keep his happiness
| Cheri- Bibi finds II necessary To com
nit few more murders. in which
| the reader may be shocked TO nno
| himself sympathizing. Those murders
must be done. and we find ourselves
| hoping Cheri Bib will do a good job
| Cheri-Bibi does He always does
| The way he and his faithful Dodger
finally settle all scores by wiplnS out
| fiye men in one fight brings our book
/ near TO a close-but not quite The
author has something left. Yes, de
| cidedly.
| How Cheri-Bi sacrifices himself for
! the love Of his wife" ! refrain from
telling here. l do not want to spoil
a good story for you. But 1t Is
mighty well handled, even in its
underlying absurdity. Nor did Cherl
Bib die, after all!
| There is another Cheri Bibi book. a
| sequel to the sequel. | learn. No
matter what Cheri- Bihi does 10 his
| face, he always shows up again. He
! is Cheri- -Bibi,