Evening star., 1926-10-31

l. will have been done away with
etely-highwaymen and pirates
and such. The scientific age. with
its passion for exact truth, is cor
rupting the romancer. playing ducks
and brakes with many a cherished
personality. With some, the reaiist
is DENYING any existence at all. and
with others he is supplanting legend
with carefully tested facts that make
some beloved sinner out to be an un.
exciting saint or even a tame ana
misjudged benefactor of his klnd.
Take Robert w. Chambers. Time
was when he was a pure romancer,
making things up out OF whole cloth'
and not a bad business that. Then
he began to show leaninGs toward
facts and consistencies and things OF
that ilk. Getting older, maybe. With
s'The Man They Hanged" he has
fully arrived at the stage where truth
is uppermost in his mind. A dull
stage. Yet q man, like a dog. clings
to his old tricks. So. happily, while
seeking first and foremost to prove
in this novel that Captain Kidd was
not a pirate at all, he does hold TO
his own alluring swing in delivering
to us the unwelcome truth. That IS,
he holds to his easy management OF
the story. He proves that he Is still
that prince among men. the man VINO
can tell a captivating tale. But the
new spell is working strongly with
Mr.. Chambers. Under it he has
painstakingly gathered host of facts
concerning the times in New YORK
that covered the cal eer of Captain
Kidd. And out of these he has spread
a picture of New York, a picture
filled with the personalities and ac-
tivities Of that period, a lifellke pic
ture, one that possesses a real atmos-
phere to support that time. And out
Of the common run or these actlons
there grows the story of plottings
against a really worthy man and the
final tragedy that befell him through
the treachery of others. And Captain
Kidd turns out to have been no
pirate, as you will see by reading a
novel that proves to be a historical
romance of real quality, first as his
tory and then as romance.
SUSAN SHANE. A story of success.
BY Roger Burlingame, author of
"You Too" New York: Charles
Scribner's Sons.
IN substance, Susan Shane" Is a
study, such as physician makes of
his patient, such as psychologist
makes of some person. 1t is the study
Of one who purSueS an object eX-
clusively, in complete devotion, un-
swervingly. And this Is the condition
underlying all success, just that
single-minded pursuit. Any one may
have it if he be willing to pay this
price. Now Susan Shane set her goal
when she was still little child, one of
-, tvH ch
no-account household. And she held
to it, rigidly, at first with the flair and
passion Of pure protest, at last with
the tenacity Of plain determination. A
hard story, with Susan Shane the
hardest element in it. But she won
out-or did she? 1 think she herself
had misgivings on this point when at
the last she stood at the height which
as little girl she had set for herself.
Any single devotion, no matter what
it is, shuts out many wayside thing
of sweetness and tenderness and de-
light. Susan Shane had no place for
any Of these, no time for dalliance
with soft things as sympathy and
kindness and fellow feeling. Susan
had no time for beauty and dreams
and ease. No time, finally. for David,
the dreamer and artist. Certainly not.
Well, this was Susan's success-to get
what she went after. A hard story,
but this fact makes it's clear distinc-
ton. With such a goal there was no
other kind of story to write. No call
here for wandering away into softer
paths, for playing a little just to let
up on the strain. No sir, this Is q
story of Success-and here you have
it! Like "Susan Shame? OF course,
you'll not like it-unless you chance
to be Of the few who appreciate a
clearly capable treatment, a truly ar
tistic medium for chosen theme. If
you are of this sort you'll be tre-
mendously impressed with the story.
X X X
THE UNDERSTANDING HEART.
BY Peter B. Kyne, author Of "The
Pride Of Palomar," etc. Illustrated
by Herbert M. Stoops. New York:
The Cosmopolitan Book Corpora
ton.
THE mountain region Of northern
California is the place. Monica
Dale, she Of the understanding
heart" is the girl. This girl is a part
Of the Forest Service, the lookout on
Bogus. telescoping the range for
signs Of danger to be telephoned to
the lower-lying stations. An odd job
for the average girl, but, naturally,
Monica Dale Is not average. And
Peter Kyne's story is made up Of ex-
acting and diverse proofs of this fact.
Rough men, lawless acts. loneliness,
no contact with other women-these
are some Of the tests which the girl
meets in a triumphant gallantry that
rs years ago would have been ridi-
cu1ed as the most brazen of romantic
inventions. But times have moved
along, and today there are plenty Of
girls to substantiate by their own
behaviors the courage and resource
and independence and capability of
Monica Dale. To be sure, these girls
have not--certainly not many of them
have-the setting provided this one.
Here Is adventure of the real sort, and