Evening star., 1928-04-22
BY IDA GILBERT MYERS.

THE RIVER AND I. BY John @, Nci-
hardt. author of The Quest" etc.
New York: The Macmillan Co.
FRIEND asked what he expected
" to find by exploring the Missouri
~ away up to the point wnere
4 \ navigation begins. Some more
OF myself" said John Neihardt.
adding. and, after all. that Is the
Great Discovery" Here Is the story oil
that adventure of discovery. Along TO-
ward the beginning Of 1t Neihardt tosses
over his shoulder the fetch of the past
of looking back through the ages for
epic things. You'll like that: that is,
you'll like 1t II you have escaped the
academic tradition. Listen to him. "A
horde of semi-savages tears down a
town In order to avenge the theft OF
faithlcss wife. who was probably no
better than she should have been--and
we have the Had. A petty king sets
sail for his native land somehow losing
himself for 10 years among the isles OF
0reece--and we have the Odyssey. An
Argive captain returns home after an
absence of 10 years to find his wife In
terested overmuch In friend who went
not forth to battle: a wrangle ensues.
the tender spouse finishes her lord with
en- aGe--and you have the AgameTn-
non." Times have changed. We no
longer write epics. but live them instead.
The history of the American fur trade
makes the Trojan War look like a
Punch and Judy show. and the Missouri
River was the path of the conquerors!"
This river was part of the boyhood
of John Neihardt. filling his dreams,
painting his future pulling, urging.
sometimes frightening him by Its mad
humors and behaviors. And down its
course there came to him stories OF the
wonders that went on up stream, stories
of For Benton. half way to the moon, =
where sometime he must go II ever
peace were to possess his soul. And
when he grew up he set out for that
point half way to the moon in order to
find more of himself. This Is the story
of that out-faring. the story OF his
homage to this mighty waterway of the
West. Since John Neihardt is real
poet, he would better do the talking
here for you: I'VE were approaching
the Great Falls of the Missouri There
were no signposts in that lonesome
tract; no one of whom to ask the way.
Little did we need direction. The voice
of thunder crying in the desert led us
surely / lay down and crawl
ing to the edge looked over.
Two hundred feet below me q watery
inferno ragged. l caught my
sef tightly gripping the ledge and
shrinking with q shuddering. instinc-
tive fear. Then suddenly the thunders
seemed to stifie all memory OF sound
and left only the silent universe. with
myself and this terribly beautiful thing
in the midst OF utter emptiness. And
loved 1t with strange desperate. tiger
ish love. 1t expressed itself so mag
nificently. and that is really all man,
or a waterfall. or mountain. or a
flower. or q meadowlark, or an ocean.
or a thunderstorm has to do in this
world" Superb! I leave 1t to you.)
laundering out its message, careless Of
audiences-like MASTER Bully. griz-
zled old Master-Bard singing-as most
Of them do-to empty benches! And it
has been doing that ten Thousand thou
sand years. and would do so for ten
thousand thousand more and never
pause for plaudits. suspect the soul
of old Homer did that--and Is still do
ing 1t. somehow somewhere. After all.
there isn't much difference between
really tremendous things-Homer or
waterfalls or thunderStorms-iS there2'
Nothing at all to do. in decency. about
John Neii1ardt when he gets to going
except to offer you such bits of him as
this. certain that you will hunt the
man up for more and more of him so
much engrosSed In finding more Of him.
self, which is the only worthwhile
business I'm the world. after all, for
humans to engage themselves with.
-
THE BLADE OF PrcARDY. BY Fred
Mclaughlin. Indianapolis: The
Bobbs- Merrill Co.
IN placement this author brings back
to mind pepys and Lamb. and. much
closer In point of time. II. M. Tomlin-
son. AS these three Londoners were. ,
also Is this author-in the service OF
the government. And, no doubt, with
all of them the writing OF romances was
and Is q means of escape from the rut
of routine. A sort Of concession. so TO
speak, TO the romantic and unelerkly
fellow hidden away inside the obvious
outer man.
The City Of Mexico and roundabout
provide setting for this adventure. which
goes back to the years when Maximilian
sought empire in the New World. only
10 meet defeat and doom at the hands
Of the Indian leader of the people,
Benito Juarez. Historical in back
ground. In action and In spirit. there
fore. is The Blade OF Picardy." Its
prime interest. however. centers in the
f0Ir friends-~MironSac. Neville. Le-
strange and Alfred Francois, Count de
ViRny--who are officers Ia the army
under Maximtlian.
II would sound like extravaganza, in
excusable. to say that Francois de Vigny
is the true son of dArtagnan himself.
so I'm not going to say 1t. Rather will
leave Ii to you to say this very thing
after reading the story. Here YOU win
follow action piling upon action and
escape meeting fresh hazard Here you
will find personal heroismS with no time
In between for the long breath and the
renewed onset. Here YOU will find an
idyl OF love. tender and captivating
And here Is the pattern OF friendship
that all the world seeks and almost no
body finds Surprising the love OF
women Is the love that binds these
French soldiers OF fortune together.
Just little above and beyond the other
three. not much. the flashing figure of
Francois de Vigny. Blade OF picardy.
SEXES the imagination of the reader
and bears II away into the beautiful
laltu OF FUulaHtiC adventure, DucS ati
this sound like oyerpraise? I fear II.
Yet | claim Justification for all that Is
said here. and you viii uphold me when
you have read the story, A chapter of
American history Is here set out In the
glowing colors of story such as you
viii not come upon In many day. Try
II, Good chroniele. Surprising story.
And the marvel Of II Is that II came
from the hand OF staid recorder OF
government business. Well. surely you
never can tell what adventurers are
done up IN the plain clothes OF daily
service Here Is one of them Let US
hope that this inside man keeps on
adyentuFing.
CRUSADE. by Donn nyrne, author OF
THE Wind BlOweth" etc. Boston,
ilLIa e.