Evening star., 1926-09-26


playing God with John Starr, and
better than she knew" Then the
story-a strong one Here at the end
of 1t John Starr is talking to the girl
who had played God with so many
olen." Il had a dream and you had
q dream. You were my dream and
you were your dream. You desired
to be the splendor Of your life-I de
sired to bring glory to the drabness
of mine. You were to me the lady OF
the ballads, the poems. the romances
| the legends. You were the bright
light after which my heart cried and
my youth followed, barefoot and re
vering. But my youth came to the
end Of its tether, Clita; it has learned
to wear shoes and be grown up
And we should never have
| had peace, since we beth wanted you
|" You haven't changed. Clita
To you. you are still the cynosure OF
| the universe And | shall
always love you. as you love your
self" deep insight here, beauti'
full and distinguished story, besides
by writer of many trades and pro
fessions and occupations. But. above
] ala writer.
PORTIA MARRIES. BY Jeanette
Phillips Gibbs. Boston: Little
Brown & Co.
THE theme of "Portia Marries' is
picked right off the top layer OF
modern circumstance. Not altogether
common yet is the practice OF eco
nrmic and occupational independence
| OF wives. But it is already going
| concern, tremendously attractive 10
! the army of smart young women VINO
today are so ioyously kicking up their
| heels in the open field of self'support
| and industrial competition. AS Its
! title implies. such independence is the
| subject of this novel. Its author is
clearly an advocate of matrimonial
program Of this order. In treatment
| the story is plain case OF special
pleading for a $3.50 plan Of individual
! freedom applied to matrimony Thefe'
| fore. to this thesis Mrs. Gibbs brings
every supporting fact that the nature
and scope of the theme will carry.
With equal zeal she excludes from 1t
every controvertine detail, no matter
how essential it may be TO the plausi-
bilitv and realism of the matter in
| hand. BY virtue of this exclusive
partisanship the novel as whole is
no more convincing than any other
fairy tale. Honors are much too easy
here to be convincing. Yet the story
has good structure and dehn'te
movement. 1t carries sense OF hu-
NOR. except in the character ana
career of Portia herself. The super
qualities Of this young woman are so
seriously conceived and so confidently
projected as to cast doubt over
what looks like excellent comedy In
other parts of the narrative. Serious
in purpose. ardent in spirit, pleasant
,e
present misleading, since it deliber-
ately conceals the enormous Difficult
ties underlying such achievement as
Portia represents in the cause OF IN
dependence for the married woman.
TWENTY-FIVE years from now maybe
women will have settled some OF the
problems that Portia now turns of
so easily.
THE HEART OF BLACK PAPUA.
By Merlin Moore Taylor. New
York: Robert NJ. Mcbride Co.
Given now. thousands of miles
l. away from 1t all and with it's
vividneSs dimmed by time, | often nnd
myself in the grasp Of nightmare
in which | live over again those days
and nights when inland Papua struck
at the very core of my being. Again
| am hedeed about by naked black
men whose peernG eyes ever seem
focused upon me. waiting and watch
ing for that moment of relaxed Nlel-
lance which would give them the op-
portunitv to strike. Again L hear
their savage cries In the night, ring
ing eerily from cliff to cliff across the
chasms. Again | see. them In ever
increa sing numbers in the trail before
me, their bows tight drawn. their
snears poised. For Papua is
like that" Beyond this opening para.
graph there are pages and chapters OF
sheer adventure among a savage ana
suspicious people in the midst OF a
strange and threatening land. Magic.
sorcery. treachery. primitive and bar
harous ceremonies. odd ways OF life,
cruel customs to their own kind ano
an unbroken sense of hidden enmity-
such are some of the items in this
hazard of Black Papua to little
group Of white men. Then II is all
over-home, safety. the plain run Of
events. Never again. But again the
chance comes to feel the thrill of dan.
ger-"the deep, dank jungle! Those
mist .encircled mountains: BY George.
/ do want to so back Queer animal.
man.
If YOU want adventure every min
ute and danger around every corner
and change from second TO second.
here it all is And matter-of-fact, too.
I'LL NEVER MOVE AGAIN. BY
F'itzhugh Green. illustrated by
Don Herold. New York: f. P.
Duttou & Co.
tS N
W armies of nomads. And here
right at hand is completely authentic
record Of the regular semi-annual mi
grafton. reduced to a literal account.
warra nted TO At the case of each indi'
vidual victim Of the instinct OF va
srancv. 1t is all here. from taking
out a new lease to giving IT up in
preparation for another move. Here
YOU will find yourself and no other
wrestling with furniture and furnaces.
with plumbing and bathtubs. with
murder and the landlord"-indeed,
with every step of your own agoniz-
ings over the business OF getting
somewhere else. A tragic odyssey.
yet one to double you up in laughter
and profanity and tears as you step
again into the familiar track OF many
movings.
II have moved 81 times the au-
thor talking No, there Is no trick
about II. am not a drummer. nor
circus manager. nor bigamist. I
am a respectable though unfortunate
American who has picked up bag and
baggage. book and box. bale and baby.
and moved from one lodging to an
other SO different and consecutive
times" Then come all the familiar
and narrowing details Of the matter.
FINALLY. after IL Is all over SO times.
listen to this: Secretly I shall go
on moving-in my mind, of course.
There is only one rule that / can
unreservedly recommend as a sure
c,,ra for the hines or any other mental