Evening star., 1926-11-28

Gus of the dead wife. or the little
son. And not wholly this, either,
since within this action is DuCarel.
the most uncanny Cynic that has step
ped into a considerable story in a long
time. 1t is DuCarel upon whom Mr..
Oursler depends for the most auda-
cious announcements of his own theO-
ries. no doubt. it is Ducarel to whom
he is in debt for proofs of his own
original daring in the projection of
this dazzling bit OF social pessimism
founded upon the fair estimate of a
truth that almost every one so piously
conceals.
CANDAULES' WIFE: And. Other
Stories BY Emily James Putnam
author of THE Lady" etc. New
York: G.. r. Putuam's Sons.
IT turns out that Herodotus. father
of history itself. was prince of
story tellers as WELL which, indeed, is
what every historian should be.
Scholars porting over these tales de
clare them to be unsurpassed for
action and color and general illumi-
nation of the human nature OF the
long gone day Of the great writer.
Five of the old stories of HerodotuS
are here set down in their actuality.
though moved into the atmosphere
and spirit of the present. Such re-
yivaI of the past in terms of the
present has become a current fashion.
Helen and Cleopatra, and Galahad
and others out Cf the ancient times
are again walking the ways OF men
as alive as the rest of us, or more
so. Helen of Troy appears TO exercise
the same irresistible charm as that
cast over Paris and every other male
in sight. Today she is still the sur
passing woman. Here is another mod
ern story of this classic enchantreSS.
This one runs to the effect that Helen
was safe in Egypt when the Trojan
war was being fought to reclaim her
from Paris and the city of Troy. And
one gathers. eaGell ly. any word, either
truth or gossip, about this woman OF
undying charm. There is here, too,
the story of Candaules, the king.
whose vanity over possession OF the
most beautiful queen in the world
wrought his death and passed that
queen on to he the cOnsort of Il nobler
king than he. Each of these five
stories is preceded by the version of
Herodotus From this authority the
facts are moved out into the present
in an easy part of persuasive nara
ton. All combine to show once more
that human nature alone marches on
without essential change in world
where all else is forever shifting and
fluid and inconstant.
INSTRUMENTS OF DARKNESS,
and Other Stories. BY Alice Duer
Miller. author of "Manslaughter.
etc, New York: Dodd, Mead & Co.
HERE you have half dozen short
stories or thereabOut. each deep
ly concerned with the undercurrent
beneath the surface movement Of af-
fairs These are studies of motive
and secret desire, Of ambition and self
seeking, of the sense of duty over
stressed and misdirected. Of other Sc
cret prepossessions urging their in
sistent ways through the conventional
tiles that tend to keep really savage
human nature within bounds. Drawn
from the common appearances of social
life--lOve and marriage, marriage and
dis.llusionment. courtship. and 50 on
each story or incident or episode dips
down into motives that are wholly hui
man and usually uniovely. The first has
to do with desire for money and place
50 urgent that. opportunity presenting
itself, crime follows, quite in the SAVIOR
Of Lady Macbeth herself. A grue-
some tale that, at first blush, appears
to belong to d crueler time than the
present. a seconds reminder of the
current GriSt Of crimes turned out by
the daily press mills makes one re-
Cede from that impression of temporal
remOteness. A story of the moment.
truly, is this one. Another interesting
story is that Of married pair. the
man unfathful. The wife, knowing
this. has only pity for her estranged
spouse and the desire to rescue him
to right living. In the meantime she
herself has found consolation and a
new reason for existence. SO. each
loving some one else, they decide in
dependently to stay together for
honor's sake. Here are four des-
perately unhappy people. Then, by
and by. when the married pair are
quite too old for new happiness, they
separate because the task of being
together is quite too burdensome. A
story Of duty and selfsacrifice and
a quite general sacrifice besides. You
catch from these two examples the
drift of the Whole-not cheerful tales
but each one carried out with def
erenCe to the situation lying under
that which appears to the casual OBJ
server. Strong stories Of good work
mansh;p. but not altogether exhiIarat
ing ones.
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