Evening star., 1928-06-17


the camp. Thereafter, to the boy tn,
tune runs "Rosalee and the river
where heretofore the river alone hat
made the music 1t may be necessar,
to your enjoyment to find somethinl
more here than most beautifully writ
ten account of boy growing by way o
| a woman and stream running away
to the sea. In that case you coult
create a perfectly good allegory out O
the situation. But why not let i
| alone! AS 1t stands. and upon thu
| face of 1t. you will have the JOY o.
coming into the company OF mar
who is wholly and entirely awake tt
| the loveliness OF nature, to its feelings
beside. to Its many ways of expressing
these feelings. to its power OF solace-
ment and companioning. Here is delib-
erately fine work in whose reading one
gets not only the pleasure of the story
itself, but an appreciation OF the art
that created It. A growing book to
read, growing in its effect upon the one
who reads 1t.
BEHIND THAT CURTAIN. BY Earl
Derr Biggers, author of THE Chinese
Parrot" etc. indianapolis: The
Bobbs- Merrill Company.
THE curtain" is that of baffiing cir
l. cumstances. the mystery that OF a
lost woman One night away OF in
India this woman disappeared from the
Search immediate and thorough,
search prolonged and extended, served
in no degree to open the strange case
to her husband and friends. When
the matter opens 10 readers San Fran
cisco has become the field of action
wherein Charlie Chan, the Honolulu
detective, takes another turn at his un-
usual method Of turning mystery into
the open day of quite plausible and be-
lievable conduct. Not, however til. the
bland and childlike Charlie Chan has
come upon many hard knot in this
unhappy disappearance. More than
once, in this part Of the world or in
that one, has a clue come to the sur
face False scent. Finally in splen-
did office building OF San Francisco the
there with a murder and many poten-
tial criminals coming and going under
the lures set by Charlie Chan. the
truth about the woman lost OF In India
becomes, as matter Of fact, no more
fiction than it is reality. as many a
similar case In real life makes manifest.
The adventure dashes along at top
speed, as this writer's stories always
do. A skiilful assembling OF people
and Of circumstances creates and sus-
tains the effect Of deep mystery till
the exact moment arrives for Charlie
Chan to open his hand upon the sur
prising story and the more surprising
villain In the case.
TRUBs DIARY. BY John Taintor
Foote. author Of The Number One
Boy" etc. New York: D. Appleton
g. Co.
THE clear dogginess OF this pups
j. diary viii win for 1t many q pleased
and appreciatiye reader. 1t begins early
even before Trub knows his own name,
knows much OF anything, In fact, except
that he is having deep inner sorrow
for a puppy biscuit gone wrong But
misery moves on, with dogs and men
alike, so in no very long time Trub is
in q new home with q nice LADY look
ing after him and a young man for
his chief divinity. Now this kind lady's
shoes and books and noor mats serve
partly as Trub's daily food and partly
for playmates in many a glorious game
These excitemerats become the material
for the story of his life that Trub here
confides to his human friends. BY the
way, this little dog has very long
name with Trouble" as small part
of 1t. Just, naturally, the rest OF Ii
soon fell of, leaving him with only
tTrub" as q means Of call. The temp
tations to stretch record of this sort
must lie heavy upon the author. In q
fine resistance that other writer's OF
their own lives might learn lessons
from, Trub holds himself TO fair and
plain recital OF his active career up to
the point when, having made his story
long enough, he resoiutely pulls the
sheet of the roller and hands out the
adventure. A beautiful story 1t is. too,
as every true and understanding dog
story Is bound TO be. A boy, should
think. would eat up a tale OF this kind
and quality and, having devourtd 1t,
we're not speedily forthcoming 10 him.
OIL MAN ADAM AN HIS CHILLUE
BY Roark Bradford. Drawings by
A. B. walker. New York: Harper
IL Bros.
THESE are Bible stories as they have
registered and have been reproduced
ny bENG ESS%hSA0A1 AGAA8s1AS N~BAD1S
Being the Tales They Tell About the
Time When the Lord Walked the Earth
Like Natural Man" Here you will
read about "samson, Strong Boy" "old
Man job" Eve and That Snake" and
50 on with many OF the Old Testament
stories upon which We ourselves were
brought up. In sense these tales, AL
OF them. are interpretations by ths
negro through the familiar thing
around him. And this process Ia good
education and good psychology, too
An odd effect, tflis pIsn produces-witr
job and Jacob and David and Isaac
taking active part in the lives OF thest
people. A strangely touching effect
too. Maybe along the surface Of ttlesf
tales seconds Of flunlor may run out tn
meet the reader. But the predominant
feeling is that Of simplicity, OF patl1os
Of making God D very near and ap-
DroAcisble Power In the midst OF tfe
immemoriai sadness that lies just be-
meath the songs and laughter Of these
children Of Africa, these victims OF tI1s
white mans greed.