Evening star., 1927-11-20

/
! A FIRST novel by young w1man.
~ Yet there is about it not a
trace Of excess, of of overhead o0e5Ioaape s
youth, not a sign of the child
ish impulse to throw all of her belong
ings into this single mold regardless
Of it's capacity and design. There is
here no effect of precocity, no snowy
collection of surface observations, of
| inconclusive judgments, of florid deco
ration such as young writer's are likely
| to use. In source this is an inside
story, q spiders thread spun out of
| the elements of it's own body, then
cast in beautiful and orderly unity of
pattern upon tree or shrub. 1t Is,
then, a story of youth, the story of
Judith Earle, little girl and by and by
young woman. Therefore, up to the
measure of it's sincerity. it is an au-
thentic tale, just as up to the measure
of it's divination and up to the artistry
of it's projection 1t is an Illuminating
and beautiful story. In mood COM
pletely modern Miss Lehman faces
| the pleasures and passing pains of
childhood. moving in the same frank
| fronting upon the joys and deepening
sorrows of youth. And youth, not
withstanding the poets, is a time of
| many poignancies of hope and grief,
of bewilderment and the deep need to
know, to know something of what life
! is about. Openly, honestly and so
very beautifully this story moves
| through the swift years of Judith
Earle's childhood and school days and
| DAYS of a passionate young love.
There is here so deep a feeling for the
natural world-the loveliness of the
home garden, the moonlight on the
| leaves, the secrets of the whispering
river. the feel of the cold pool upon
| the naked body, the friendliness of the
| birds-that q pagan spirit peeps out
| from many a secret corner of the
whole. The human relationships. too,
shine out here in frank avowal, so
| frank an avowal as to threaten the
elders with something like dismay.
Yet this honest young artist goes her
way unashamed of giving love when
love has not been sought, innocent and
unabashed before the possession of
| feelings that she herself certainly did
not summon-but here they are. The
whole lovely drama is that of youth
asking of life. craving and demanding
some answers to the questing soul of
youth
All. what a dusty answer gets the soul
When hot for certainties in this our life
X X y X
| THE REVOLT OF THE BIRDS. BY
Melville Davisson Post, author of
Walker of the Secret Service"
etc. New York: D. Appleton & Co.
If bird life were rather suddenly to
= become utterly extinct, then in no
very considerable stretch of time
the world would pass completely un-
der the dominion of an insect life so
prolific and devastating as to over
whelm and destroy man himself.
From this biological fact Mr. Post
has drawn, or created. story in the
colors of a Chinese legend, weird
and haunting thing, woven of mystery
and darkness, through which threads
of sheer beauty shine. A low-lying
island off the ASiatic coast is under
a spell, so the story runs, one which
bewitches the sea currents about 1t,
holding them fast so that no ship can
approach it, and no ship once caught
can leave it. You see, the native rice
farmers of this island killed off the
birds for feeding upon their fields of
grain. And other birds refused to
near. the spot, save for one little place
where a missionary and his lovely
daughter fed them and provided
sanctuary for them. Without the
birds this island came completely un-
der insect rule, crawling. flying.
creeping mass, loathsome and de-
structive. The panic-possessed peo-
pie tried to leave the monstrous thing
that had been their home. But the
tides refused them service. Then 1t
came time for the maiden to go to
safety. And one day upon the life
less rigging of motionlesS sampan
were seen thousands of birds through
whose fluffy plumage the idle wind
drfted till the sails took life and bore
the girl to safety. Once out within
the normal sea currents the birds
sailed away, having done for the kind
ly friend that which they were able
to do in her hour of dureSs and stress
Just a brief glance, this, at very
beautiful and dramatic matter, which
is worked out in a technical COM
petency,~ such as Melville Post pos
sesses in so high a degree, to the end
that. from the standpoint and feeling
Of the present, an Oriental mystery
or legend or myth. becomes n treasure
of poetic ina aGination and means of
engrossing enjoyment for the leisure
hour of even the most eXacting Of
readers.
X X X X
BUGLES IN THE NIGHT. BY Barry
Benefeld. author of ''The Chicken.
Wagon Family" etc. New York:
The Century Co.
SGTTHE Chicken-Wagon Family" in
sured awarm welcome to Barry
Benefited whenever he felt like com
ing around again. And what de-
lectable romance that one was! And
here he is again with another of the
same tribe. 1t is the daring origi-
nality of the man, I'm thinking, that
makes of him so complete a captiva-
ton. This is the second time that he
has had the nerve, and the art, to
set sheer romance down in the un-
likeliest spot on earth-the heart of
New York City. for the first one, and
for this one,' on a dump pile, nothing
else, out beyond Brooklyn way near
the shore where wagon loads of ashes
and cans and other dry whatnot of
city refuse assemble. The peculiar
heart of Benefited and a beautiful
artistry to show it up come together
to work a sort of miracle-that of
creating an Already out of the odds
and ends of things most un.Arcadian.
You recall what the chicken-wagon
family made out of a stable, or some
M NJ ioht in, ha