Evening star., 1933-05-07

her food supplies, cooking the dishes the diff
ferent ones like. welcoming home the brothers
and sister from the outside world, trying to put
q proud look in her eyes when Oily tells her
about his debating. though she does not know
what an alternate is nor what Wesleyan Is. She
is deeply contented, undisturbed by i'll fortune
injustice. unconsciously dominant. The
style of "As the Earth Turns is simple. almost
epic. Ladislas Reymont. Polish novelist. did
something similar to this. on a much larger
scale more powerfully. less pleasantly, In his
four volume novel, The Peasants"
UNCLE PEEL. By Irving Bachelor. New
York: Frederick A. Stokes Co.
THE Florida boom has entered literature, and
! with 1t the Florida collapse. Together they
furnish perfect rising and falling dramatic
action in Irving Bachelors novel. Through
all the hysteria Uncle Peel plays the part OF
q prophet, but of course. no one pays any
attention to him at the time Afterward they
remember what he has said and wonder why
they didn't see the sense in it. Uncle Peel Is
the uncle Of Gabriel Parker, portrait painter,
who spends his Winters in Florida and his
Summers In New York State. In his own per-
sonality apart from his unclehood Uncle Peel
Is q banker in q small town in Northern New
York He is also the wise man Of the whole
countryside Northern New York is q producer
v
Pelopides Parker this unabridged name) Is
cheerful bachelor. has a handsome flowing
moustache first black. then white. Is always
well dressed and Is known and liked BY every
one whose approval Is worth having. He Is
canny and cautious. Is always ready TO give
good advice but never forces 1t upon any one
II his nephew had had half the wisdom OF MS
uncle, he would never have made his first visit
to Sarasota, would never have helped to start
t,nx,1 nod
with losses heavier than money losses.
The love affairs Of Gabriel Parker's dAuehter
Gladys, the effects of wealth on the unstable
character Of his wife and mild little mystery
in connection with Uncle Peel furnish all neces-
Solomon Runions, q chauffeur. is the humoftst,
q sardonic one. Asked what he thinks OF Nj
ami. as it is beginning to boom, he says: well,
ye put that town and 80 cents side by side,
and I'd take the money. It's nothing but LAND,
water and lunatics. I don't like Land or
water, but can get along with lunatics." He
is driving Gabriel Parker and his friend De-
metrius Plumb in search Of land bargains at
the time Mr.. Bachelor was in his Florida
home during the wild land boom and Its att
ermath 50 this piece of fiction has historical
value In his foreword he says: Il aim also
to make clear the great injustice done to the
State Of Florida, overrun with people from the
North who perhaps honestly intending to set
tie within her boundaries, demanded extensive
improvements and then spent themselves In
gambling and ran away leaving the State load-
ed with debt incurred for their benefit"
WILDERNESS WALLS. By Jane Roayat. New
York: Z. p. Dutton & Co.
TORT KAMINoCHAMINGUE . Hudson
Bay post in the wilds of Canada and to It
is sent as an assistant Vincent Reid, straight
LII. S~l~ to- xk.o hrasc nf AVtn
Roph importer Of staple and fancy dry goods
in Montreal He is young and unseasoned,
but he falls Immediately under the spell Of the
wooded wilderness and he has AN almost over
whelming consciousness Of success In the fu-
ture" The post Is a lonely one and Vincents
only companions are Scotch traders and In
dian coureurs de bois. The chief factor, Alex
ander Maurice st. Clair, Is poanpous eccen-
tric mystical man, whose character Is gradu-
ally developed throughout the tale. Vincent
himself Is an average young man, eager Tor
experience, fond Of the sports offered In the
woods though st. Clair and most Of the other
men cannot see any sense in swimming, canoe
ing and shooting just for pleasure. He Is also
filled with healthy curiosity about everything he
does not understand, and this puts him ON the
trail Of . mystery connected with the Indian
voyageur Cingebis, . flashy fellow, who always
wears q red cloth about his head and plies .
subtle paddle. Something else puzzles him,
too. His predecessor was Scotch half breed
named MacIvor, whose records, left for vin-
cent, were messy and difficult to decipher end,
as evidence Of supreme carelessness, one t~rtn
sheet bore the print Of a moccasin. Therr Is
a rumor that MacIvor, who had left suddehly,
had buried some treasure somewhere in the for
est Here are materials for q nOt-too- usual
mystery story, but that is not the type Of story
Miss Rolyat set out to write. She uses her
materials but the intrigue is entirely subofdi-
nate to the creation of a picture of the life
of traders In the forest in the early 106Os In
very poetic prose, the majesty and mystery Of
the woods, the music of the waters, the help
lessness Of man when struggling against the
forces Of nature, the pathos of the wild life
pursued by man. are woven motifs into the
fabric of the story II Miss iHolyat's prose Is