Evening star., 1927-08-07

pictures of China itself. wherein these
Oriental plots and Plans take shape
and action.
COMRADE JILL. BY Herbert Adams
author of THE Crooked Lip" etc.
Philadelphia: J. Il. Lippincott Co.
London of 1881. Labor and the gov
ernment are again clinched in crit
ical disagreement. BY this time Labor
is four-tifths communism. Such is
the situation whose prime purpose Is
to create a fresh medium for the same
old love story. Within it the Honorable
Jill Addington blithely commanders
the devotion of three men. thereby
providing the test of loyalties upon
which this substantial romance de-
pendS for its movement and chief In
terest. A young labor leader is one OF
these men. n popular revivalist another.
The third is just plain EngliShman of
the best type. Since the girl is
"Comrade JILL" 1t is easy to assume
that here is one of the free and for
ward young women of the present,
who. by self constitution, becomes an
agent of reform and progress. And
this in spite of the fact of her position
on the far side of any theory against
the established order of England. The
struggle of two of, these men is to
square their social beliefs and political
hcreSies with the silken seduCtions Of
the Honorable Jill. actual deni2en of
the world against which she is making
gestures OF Reputation and denial
The outstanding Enghshmau has a
somewhat different job. Il simpler one.
since he is mixing no politics at all
in his plain will to win the woman that
he wants. While the story takes on.
here and there. the colors of political
conflict and communistic intrigues, it
is. after all. just a love story of good
quality and a rather unusual measure
Of external compleXity.
S x "
A ROYAL ADVENTURER IN THE
FOREIGN LEGION. BY III. Fl.
Prince Aage of Denmark. New
York: Doubleday. Page & Co.
The French Foreign Legion is so in
closed by romance and rumor that
very little of actual fact is known of
this famous military unit by the gen.
eral reader. The book in hand is cal
culated to offset hearsay with evi.
dence in this respect. 1t is a record
of personal service within the legion
for a period of such length and char
acter as to set out. fairly and broadly,
not only the Foreign Legion itself,
but something of the colonial purpose
of France behind the activities of this
arm of its military machine. The
origin of the story is deeply interest
ing. Prince Aage of Denmark. dis
satisfied with the routine of the Royal
Life Guards. gave up his rank there
=, H..
the famous fighting force in North
Africa. For two years thereafter he
was in Morocco on active service
against the rehellious Berber tribes
This is the story Of that service. A
laconic story it is, made up of such
facts as mark the life of the soldier
Here are terse reports of times and
places wherein appeared no hope for
the legion and the native troops
standing in between the French colony
and Add Ell Krim's fierce fighting
men. In the midst of such stresses,
however. the author manages in a
crisp turn of words here and there to
gather up the essence of campaign
ing in North Africa. And this spirit,
founded on fact alone, turns out to
be also the spirit of such high ad-
venture as no mere romaneer can
possibly capture. Here, therefore, is
an exciting account of war. with it's
winnings and its losses, with it's oc.
casional easement in the midst of
almost unbroken hardship. Here.
sketched in besides, is a fair summary
of the purposes and achievements of
France in this colonial enterprise.
Again. here is a picture of the East
and, West come together in an exotic
natural element, upon which the
strange blend is producing a deeply
interesting effect. Only a little book
this one. 1t is, however, a solid com.
pact of fresh information, Of stirring
activity, Of personal heroisrns, of the
romance and the lure Of strange
places.