Evening star., 1928-10-07
Early Fall Fiction.

village. hilltop, woods or ravine cap.
| tured by Americans is referred to anC
! the American unit which can be Off
| cially credited with the conquest dis.
! closed" Seriously undertaken by it!
author, the book appears TO have beer
subjected to rigorous testing of al
the material made use Of by its author
| It therefore offers to the individua
! American soldier, active in the Worlc
War on the fighting line, valuable
book of reference upon the facts of tbs
conflict from the standpoint Of every
veteran Of the A. E. F. The chapter,
run by battlefelds-Ba Can.
tigny, Chateau Thierry and so on dowr
through the long list to Meuse-Argonne
An introduction by Maj. Gen. Han
son Ely, commanding general. ID Corp!
Area, formerly connmandant the Army
War College, includes decision as tc
the value Of study of this sort, voucll.
ing in general, also, for the accuracy
OF the book in hand. Gen. Ely says
the author has reproduced the at
mosphere of the battlefield. ;" HI
had unusual opportunities for observing
the things of which he writes. !
AS a human interest story can recon-
mend this book. IN this volume
our exploits are not magnified nor those
of the foe deprecated. This
history will be of great value to the
general public as we'll as to students
of war"
THE BRIDE OF THE SACRED WELL;
Tales of Ancient Mexico BY Emma =
Lindsay Squier, author of "On Au-
tumn Trails" etc. Illustrated. New
York: Cosmopolitan Book Corpora
ton.
A MARKED general interest has
grown up around the old Maya
civilization which. within the past few
years, archeologists have been bring
ing to the surface of the jungles of
Yucatan. That we, on our own conti-
nent, have had an ancient people pos
seSsed OF arts and industry, OF relations
with other peoples-thiS Is an exciting
thought to many of US who wait eagerly
for more about the culture of old
Mexico.
Here is a little book devoted to the
myths and legends of these ancient peo-
pies. THE Bride of the Sacred Well"
is one OF the most familiar of them all,
one OF the most beautiful besides. Like
primitive races, generally, the Mayas
made their gods out of the common
fears and needs of their daily life. For
example-drought was the great scourge,
drying the streams, whitening the grain
bringing famine and disease. Above all
else, the rain god In his devastat ting
angers over the wickedness of man
must be placated. And, much like the
human male of all ages, nothing would
subdue the wrath Of the god save the
most beautiful maiden in his realm. So.
In pomp and circumstance the procla-
nation went forth throughout the land.
Each lovely maiden, trembling, PRAYED
for the favor of the god, prayed that
within the sacred we'll she might meet
him and flnd favor in his sight. Around
this plain economic fact, the need for
food, rose the legend, THE Bride of the
Sacred Well" and host of other tales
bearing upon a similar theme. These
this author has gathered into the vol
ume in hand. Many of them are beau
tiful, many of them are terrible. There
Is, there can be, but one opinion of the
writer's work. A gifted woman has re-
vived these legends. The stories here
move to music. They have cadence and
sound and measure. Prose to the eye,
the book Is indubitably poetry, as frl-
deed 1t should be with such themes to
renew. Beautiful work, quite worthy of
the rich material In hand.
X X \ y
THE SEA PANTHER. BY RAYMOND
Mcfarland, author of Sons of the
Sea- etc. New York: Frederick A..
Stokes Co.
SHEER adventure, with no apparent
desire to be anything else. A busy
analr from its first word to the last
one. A bit of early American history
serves as starting point for the trans
formation Of yeomanry into fighting
men at something less than a minutes
notice. To serve the moments need a
plain trading ship becomes a fighting
craft sailing away to free the seas OF
the enemy. A bold pirate, with some
thing OF the noble cut of Robin Hood,
sweeps into the general action for the
protection of the weak and defenseless.
With the tremendous fighting that en-
crosses the action there is time for a
love story, which, spirited as 1t would
have to be in this atmosphere of war
fare, moves across the line from en-
emy on one side to enemy on the
other. since the parties Of the first and
second parts are In themselves deadly
foes-at least, by tradition. splendid
and engrossing story Of adventure. Read
1t for that, just that. Discard any no.
ton Of reading for the purpose Of i'm
proving your mind Have q grand mo-
n1ent of vicarious action, and, upon
emerging from the adventure, you will
find that your mind is all right-swept
and summed and aired by this sea adj
venture away back when America was
years younger than 1t is now.
v# y
THE ROAD TO BUENOS AIRES. BY
Albert Londres. Translated by Eric
Sutton. New York: Boni g. Live
right.
$50 I sat down outside Batinol's
Batiffols Is bar. In the Fau-
bourg st. Denis" It Is in such casual
vein that the terrible story begins. And
throughout 1t holds pretty much tc
the same conversational manner of dis
closure, a detached manner, but con-
vincing all right. Toward the last
however, this easy way OF speaking gives
way to something like accusation, ac-
cusation Of you and me. Indeed, the
very last word of the author is: "The
responsibility is ours; we cannot get
rid of It," Just before this Mr.. Londres
is talking, most feelingly, about hum
ger-have you ever been hungry? He
talks about no place to sleep, nor where
to get warm, or dry, or in any measure
comfortable. And we are so needy oi
comfort, all Of us. He talks about not
earning enough to allow ones self tc
| be i'll, or to buy coat or food foI
the children, maybe. These are women
. these of whom this author is speaking
And this comes only at the end OF the
account. The beginning Of 1t that be.
gins so idly and incorScquentia!ly, i;
the beginning Of hideous story-thai
story whose responsibility is ours" ac.
! cording to Londres An internationa
! story, an account of trade, OF the buy
| ing and selling Of women to a foreig,
( country. Not story for you to read
not for you who have enough to ea'
: and place to sleep; wouldn't read Il
If / were you. Why disturb yourselti
! 1t is a challenge to all OF us-but who
wants to be challenged! Let's be com
Portable!
I IL Il II