Evening star., 1926-09-05

| which she has laid substantial claim
| X X X
| FLORIDA BY Kenneth l.. Roberts.
Illustrated New York Harper &
Bros.
FABLES belong to the unrealities of
a dim past, or so we thought. But
| scholars tell us that even the most
| fantastic Of these fables has probably
| it's core of truth, to which succeeding
age after age added. the juicy stuff of
rumor upon rumor.s Finally, around
the whole grew the tough integument
! that held the fable intact. Nowadays
| processes are SO speeded up that the
work of many old centuries may be
crowded into few hours. or weeks
at the most: Nowadays we live right
through our great fables = core of
| truth, luscious denominations of ru-
| NOR, hard rind of conclusion and final
| ity. all are right here before the eye.
| The State of Florida is such fable,
not yet quite rounded into rind, it is
true, but otherwise complete. And we
are permitted to look upon this proc
ess of making a story more fabulous
than any handed down to US from
pagan Greece and Rome. Not only
do we look upon it, but we travel
through 1t while it is yet in the MAX
ing. Kenneth Roberts is our guide in
this special adventure. A good guide,
who competently separates the solid
stuff from the haSty adventurous
groWths of pure sayso. A sort of ma
gician. as we'll, adroitly shifting scenes
to show barren sand pile turned into
an oasis. swamp metamOrphoSed in
TO new Venice of lagoon and canal
and gondola. A ramshackle group of
huts giving way to marvels of Span
iSh architecture. A business man be-
sides, able to cipher and reckon al
most as speedily as the Florida sftua-
ton requires, and to comport himself
quite like a bank or even the stock
exchange. A sensible man. able to
set steady future growth away from
the hysteria of the modern real estate
boom. And one of the best compan-
ions all along the way filled with
laughter and the quick turn of wit,
concise in statement, ready in SYM
pathy, all admiration for the real
builders of Florida. If one is going to
Florida by the book route he will do
well to go in the company of this sat
isfying man.
THE VERDICT OF BRIDLEGOOSE.
BY Llewelyn Powys, author of
BLACK Laughter" etc. New York:
llarcourt, Brace & Co.
/ LEV ELYN POWYS, having
worked hard and we'll on his
experiences in Africa, here sits down
to loaf along with his own opinions
about America and about himself
Oddly enough. the same attitude Of
bald and naked frankneSs holds wheth-
er he is talking about filaself or
about the United States One expects
English writer's to be perfectly free
in their expressions about America.
The less they like the country the
freer they grow. SO at this point
Mr.. Powys elicits no surprise. When,
however. he strips himself to the skin
in an exposure of his own special
cast of mind, Of his own personal
habits and outlook and tolerances,
then he does get into a class by
himself. Here YOU come upon young
man looking for a job. Writing is
his weakness. or strength - that is
to be proved. His OvertureS to this
one and that are set down here in
a perfect flow of intimate disclosure
which includes not only himself, but
those to whom he is appealing for
work. What they say, how they look,
their shortcomings and fatuities, step
in and sit down here. Once in a
while, however, some one stands well
man. Then there is a bit of reason
to underlie this approval which rubs
out all the captious stuff that seems
to he so satisfying to this splenetic
youth. Like all other Englishmen.a he
grows melancholy over the ma
terialism' of America, regrets it, sees
national tragedy in it. talks about it,
and probably is really quite personally
envious over it. But-take the man
away by himself somewhere-sleeping
on the roof of a New York house
whore the chimneys make strange
companions in the moonlight, out on
the plains while crossing to Cali
fornia, at the top Of lonely noun
tain--anywhere by himself, then he
unties and spreads out a sentence
and another and another. In no time
at all there is delivered something
real and poignant that is yours and
mine, something to keep and cherish
for its truth and penetrating sadness.
This is clearly a part Of the habit
of open speech that. sometimes. is
unwelcome-perhaps because it, too. is
Of the substance of plain truth. You
will, unfailingly, for one reason or
another. read twice over at least
whatever this Llewelyn Powys sees
fit to write about.
x * X
THE GLEAVE MYSTERY. BY Louis
Tracy. author of THE Black Cat"
etc. New York: Edward J. Clode,
Inc.
4 MOST dramatic moment opens
this adventure. A young man
just home from India finds himself in
a crowd face to face with his fathers
murderer. A second or so, then the
Il i,,tA
binatiOn and the man is gone An
important point in this story is, how
ever. that this man did not commit
the murder. although he had already
served a term in prison for it. This
mystery tale progresses by way of
the slow growth of suspicion against
another man as the true criminal,
and by way of measures to discover
a peculiarly subtle and adrOit man
Of many evil deeds and of many more
in the making. Modern science be-
comes first assistant to this highly
trained scamp. World politics en-
cages his most bitter activities against
his own country. a quiet man, liv-
! ing in IN innocent and scholarly re-
tirement that for a long time gives
him security. Every story must have
a romance in its general luggage. The
romance here is 50 knit with the mys-
terry itself that, serving to complicate
the crime, it sets ViciSsitudeS for itself
that are of seemingly impossible
isolution. A very involved matter upon
the whole, one upon which Louis
Tracy expends his customary adroit
treatment and smooth extrication at
the last second of the last moment.
BOOKS RECEIVED
ANIMUf.A NAGULA. BY Leonard
Bacon, author OF "Ph. D.'S.' New
York: Harper 4 Bros.