Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-04-10

THE OLD COUNTESS. BY Anne
Douglas Sedgwick, author of The
Little French Girl" etc. Boston
Houghton Mfiliin Company.
q YOUTH has no corner on ro-
" nance. A casual look around.
glance at the daily paper,
sets this truth out into the
open of common recognition.
On all hands age, male and female,
no less than youth itself, is engrossed
in what Cabell calls "aping it's
dreams" This simian activity is the
very essence of romance, "loveliest
daughter of human vanity" 1t con-
stitutes the great illusion whereby
every man sees himself, not as he is,
but as he ought to be--forever young,
forever lusty and conquering. That
is not he, that thing moving down
the street, a bit laboriously, thrown
back at him by shop windows in so
diSconcerting Il mockery. No, no.
Under the dynamic illusion of ro-
nance he is swinging off Don Juan
or knight errant--according to the
pattern Of his cut. This benefcent
illusion OF youth, holding as long as
Individual life lasts, is drama at its
highest pitch. Now and then nov
e1ist of the more in-seeing sort is
/
novel upon the theme is making it's
appearance 1.-The Old Countess" Is
one of these. The main thread of this
romance is the passion of an old
woman for a young man-the painter
who for the Summer has come into
her neighborhood. AS yet, however,
this theme, standing bare and alone,
would SO clearly partake of the gro.
tesque as to sum to the nature OF
the comic strip. Not yet sufficiently
| seasoned by the weathers OF open
appreciation to stand alone as a sub
ject of art. Therefore, beside the old
countess and the young man, there
are two others-Jill Graham. the art
lists wife, and an elusive. dark-browed
girl, Marthe Luderac. By and by 1t
is these two who engrosS the readers
attention, Marthe Luderac devoting
her life to the animals around about,
and the wife devoting her good sense
to the vagrant drifts of her handsome
husbands mind. From comedy the
story veers toward the tragedy OF
MartheS death, and toward her sub
sequent rise to the role Of village saint
because of her love for the dumb
things roundabout-a dignity accorded
her by the devotion of her friend, Jill
Graham, the painters wife. This wife
is the outstanding figure of the story,
a rounded creation of excellent quail
ity-a rare woman, able to be the
friend of her husband, whose gallan-
tries are the gestures of an arrested
adolescence; able to be the friend of
this girl whom the husband loves. or
thinks he loves for the time being.
An attractive woman, Jill Graham,
compact of beauty, good sense, wide
and friendly mind. 1t is. upon ner
that the burden of this matter falls.
since of course, the old countess
could not sustain a whole story in her
comedy of young love. The theme is
nightly interesting, and here 1t is
presented with the practiced skill of a
good story-teller. But it is subject
of hard shedding. nevertheless. There
fore, so far, 1.-THE Little French Girl
is secure in her high place among this
authors novels.
y x x X
OLD TOWPATHS: The American
Canal Era. BY Alvin f. Harlow.
New York: d. Appleton & Co.
A L the Great Falls of the Potomac.
few miles above the Capital,
the tourist may see all that remains
of the canal projected by George
Washington as the first step in his
plan of uniting the East and the Mis-
sissippi Valley by system of artificial
waterways. Again, at Washington
itself one sees the Chesapeake & Ohio
Canal which. till a year ago, was in
active service as a carrier. And all
over the East are signs of old canals
that at one period of our history gave
unbroken water transit between the
great central valley and the Eastern
seaboard. "Old Towpaths" is the
story of that period of canal expan-
sion which in time gave way before
the railroad. The canal was at that
time a tremendous economic advance
over river travel alone, and certainly
over the lone land trails Reading
here one realizes not only the ma
terial Importance Of this innovation,
but he feels as we'll the distinct charm
Of the period itself. Leisure, lack of
hurry, the slow advance of one pic
tureSque scene upon another-these
appear to be, and are, thousand |
years away from the pell-mell of the |
present. The story goes back to the !
beginnings of the canal system. 1t |
describes the building of the historic |
Erie. 1t details the subsequent agi- |
tation over the railroad as a possible |
rival of the water system. Each i'm |
pO1 tdHl CdIldl III Tic EASTERN SeCIlOH |
is taken up here in it's individual rise |
and use and decline. Besides. here |
are stories of travelling by this kind |
of route and pictures of life on the
canal. Labor and research have gone
into this work, with the result that
one has here both authentic history
and charming reminiscent picture
OF something that has gone out of the |
common life of the eastern part of /
the country.
THE LAST DAYS OF POMPEII. BY
Edward Bulwer Lytton. Pictures
by F. c. Yohn. New York: Charles
Scribner's Sons.
4 N old story that here offers itself
in such beauty of picture and
apparel as to renew desire to go over
the historic tale again. And what a
tale of bygone action and circum-
stance it is! Old imperial ways of
looking at life that are now quite
gone. Or are they? Old Injuries of
habit that today rouse something Of a
smile at the effeminancy of it all.
Old splendors that now seem strangely
out of place in the face Of those of
our day that are only of a different
pattern. But what a thrill to genius
was the ruin of that ancient city, and
how superbly did hand and mind re-
spond to that stir by producing the
best of this writer's work in a his
torical romance that is as new. as
much read as it was in the years of
it's first appearance. This particular
issue is book for one to own, because
here great story is so beautiful in
It's physical form as to make owner
shin Y~af iVorN Nv
desirable.
X X
HOW WE BECOME PERSONALLY
TIES. BY Edward Huntington
Williams. NJ. D. indianapolis.