Evening star., 1935-10-13

From a portrait taken in 1852.
its ways to go into the adjoining land
of Nithking. where adventure lurked.
(For this reason Sphistica was, &C
cording to her SiSter-in-law, an adj
VentureSS)
As one expects, the young Tellec-
tina follows her aunt's lead, if not
exactly her footsteps. She leaps over
the wall into Nithking, is promptly at
tackled by a band of starving and
ravenouS individuals who are described
as political outcasts from Err. They
rob her of all her possessions and
cruelty abuse her. striking her be
tween the eyes," as the author puts it..
no social consciousness" DO you
believe in WARP" Answer my ques-
ton first!"
She succeeds in making them
drunk, whereupon they see, in a
mirage. a splendid vision of them
selves razing Err to the ground. They
believe it, but continue to demand
sustenance from her until finally she
escapes, aided by three men. One
lives with what he describes to her
great astonishment as a mistress"
in small blue house. His name is
Dresser. The mistress" is called
Sister Carrie. The second is dis
penser of magic water named Brit
fault. And the third is the author
of guidebook for crossing the pre-
liminary desert lands (DotbW of
Nithking. He is called Robinson and
his book is Mind in the Making P"
There are very fine touches in all
this nonsense. The scene is recogniz-
ably modern even though the manner
is classic. One can forgive Miss Spots
wood her borrowing without much
trouble, even when she is so fragrant
about it as in the scene where the
giant Mencken eats by accident three
priests who were hiding under a leaf
of his salad.
The adventures go merrily on, with
Tellectina hunting for Mount Certi-
tude. She does come at last to the
iAl6iieoV AlOuiiC1Ai al Ii4C "OiId dIO
James Branch Cabell shows her the
best view from his two windows.
Then she returns to Err, but finds
that her vicissitudes have given her
many ailments. She is prescribed for
by her aunt, Sophistica, who gives her
Cianite Vitrgrew. which is a drug con-
tanned in little black cylinder and
which is efficacious only as the user
knows how to apply it. Properly used,
it cures everything and gives the ulti-
mate ecstacy.
This is a delightful book.
THE SCANDAL OF FATHER
BROWN. By G. K. Chesterton.
New York: Dodd Mead g. Co.
FATHER BROWN. that small, cher
ubic priest, who embodies so per-
fectly Mr.. Chesterton's whimsical
brand of logic, solves eight crimes in
this present book. through the course
of as many short stories. The tales
are of varying goodness.
For sometimes it must seem to the
reader that Mr.. Chesterton makes his
professional detectives remarkably
dull, instead of making Father Brown
remarkably clever, as in the story
called THE Pursuit of Mr.. Blue" But
in others the practiced witchery of
Chesterton's writing will so absorb you
that you will not arrive at the solution
much before the little cleric, if as
soon.
But, if you have followed the ad-
ventures of Father Brown through the
years Cor those of his fantastically
reasonable creator) you will want this
volume. At least one of the stories
has been previously published.
THE ANGEL OF ASSASSINATION,
CHARLOTTE DE CORDAY. BY
Joseph Shearing. New York: Har-
rison Smith and Robert Haas.
THIS is a highly absorbing, but
partisan history of the famous
Charlotte de Corday 1t is written,
apparently, in a spirit of pure ideal
ism. AS that spirit is not one fire.
quently encountered in present-day
biographies, it gives the work some
what romantic and old-fashioned
But, one is obliged to
admit. the romanticizing tendency
also adds to readableness.
The book contains the story of
Adam Lux, as well as of Charlotte,
and traces to the end of their careers
the various personages who were con-
cerned in the trial and assassination.
1t is probably as entertaining version
of the story as has been written.
CELL 2O2-SING SING. BY Warden
Lewis E. Lawes. New York: Far
rar & Rinehart.
WARDEN LAWES of Sing Sing has
W for long needed no introduction
as a prison administrator and, since
his first book, 10000 Years in Sing
Sing" was widely read. it would seem
that he now has little need for intro
duction as an author. That book set
forth some of the wardens principles
as an administrator. The present work
purports to be history of Sing Sing
Prison, told through the cases of four
men, who, one after the other, occu-
pied Cell 202. The first three served
20-year terms. The last man was there
from 1886 until 1911. He refused a
pardon, pfeferring to serve his term.
He then went out to shoot his enemy.
His plan miscarried. He was returned
to Sing Sing to die in the electric
chair.
It is more than just a history of the
prison, however. for it goes far into the
social conditions surrounding each of
the prisoners. And, as their combined
terms stretchd from 1926 to 1911, this
a very voluminous record. It
is a book of dreadful sadness.
According to Warden Lawes' PRO.