SOME RECENT FICTION.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1866, 27 September 1913, Page 19

SOME RECENT FICTION.

BY THE AUTHOR OF "THE DOP DOCTOR." Tho new book, "The Headquarter Recruit," by Richard Dclian (Miss Clothildo Graves), (William Hoinomann; 'per Georgo Robertson and Co.), is a collection of eighteen short complete stories, dealing for the most part with military and official lifo in various parts of tho world. Thoso who havo read Miss Graves's novels, "Tho Dop Doctor," and that really brilliant book " Botween Two Thieves," will .turn with much pleasuroablo anticipation to the latest production of this author's pen. Tho stories now collected vary greatly in interest of subject, and, too, in literary merit. But in 0110 and all thero is. again reflected that almost riotously rich creative imagination which found such effective outcome iii Miss Grave's longer works. Hero and there thero is an extravagance which' curiously recalls somo of Ouida's stories. In tfio liaminc of hor ehnrnctohs, in her liking for the superlatively handsome and brillantly gifted young officer of noblo birth —tho resemblance to the methods of tho lato Mdlle. de la Ramee is specially noticeable. But thore is a rough virility, an unflagging force, a grip on tho reader's interest, in most of these stories, which Ouida never quito sueceedod in getting into her i.ovels. The allusiveness of them may at times bo rather bewildering to that good soul, ,f tlie average reader," and their studious . topicality may cause somo of us to class Miss Graves as a petticoated Kipling, a petti-, coatcd Kippling who, however ,wears a John Strange Winter costume Most ef tho stories havo, I believe, appeared (in tho columns of "Tho World" once) in the early days of Edumund Yates's editorship, a journal of somo standing. Nowadays tho chief . function of_ " Tho World" is to chronicle tho arrival of the Earl and Countess of Beaumanoir at Beaunianoir Castle, or the exciting nows that Sir Solomon Cholnxndely Levin- , son—in earlier lifo, and previous to his marriage with tho daughter of an impecunious gentilo peer, plain Sol. Levy, of tho Minories, has loft his residence in Park Lane for a trip to tho Riviera. Probably, as an acuto student of the tastes of the particular public sho was was writing for, Miss Graves has sdcemed it neccssary to mako most of her stories deal with tho superlatively gallant exploits at arms, and amatory triumphs of titled young heroes. Occasionally, liowcver, as in " The Chintz Chair," and "Tlie Tribute of Offa," sho forgets the " World " public, and makes appeal to broader and deeper emotions and sympathies. Her book is. liko tho curate's egg, "good in parts." Personally, I recommend the purchasers —and theso should and will 110 doubt be very numerous—of Richard Dehan's latest book, to tako a story here and there, and savo t it. senaratolv and quitoly. To read such a book through at one or two sittings would, I am afraid, result in severe mental dyspepsia, so highly -spiced are most of the dishes 011 this too generously long and amazingly varied fictional menu. SHORTER NOTICES. Thero aro' passages in Helen S. Woodruff's story of Southern negro : lifo, "Mis' Beauty" (Hoddcr ancl Stougliton, per S. and W. Mftckay), which are almost' as good as can be found in George Cable's stories or tho quaint "Undo Remus" yarns of- Joel Chandler Harris. There is practically no plot in tho story. A beautiful young southern lady is injured in a railway accident, and falls in love with tho doctor who gives her first-aid. Miss Woodruff's chief object lias been to describe tho lighter, more humorous side of negro life. The story of a negro divorce case is specially amusing, and thero is a long specimen of the negro parson's sermon ou 'I takes my tox' from do twoty-tooth verso of Spasms an' de "Piscopalians of de Romans": —"1 am de lioso of Sharon, an' do lilycrs of de valley," sayeth de Lord," which is rlcliciously fnnnv. And yet the author declares it to be an actual sernion, taken down verbatim from the lips of a coloured preacher in the South. Illustrations, in colour, by W. L. Jacobs. For my own part 1 shall never agreo to the theory that Maurice Lehlanc, tho clover creator or the diabolically ingenious Arscne Lupin, can equal the. ■dead and gone Messieurs Gaboriau and Do Boisgoboy. the favourites of my youth. But M. Lehlanc is none the less a skilled compounder of "detectivo" fiction, and in bis latest production in this genro, "The Crystal Stopper"'(Hurst and Blackett; per Whitcombo and Tombs) gives us a tremendously sensational yarn, brimful of exciting situations, and not devoid, too, of n certain ironic humour. The plot turns on the outwitting, by the redoubtable Lupin, of a rascally blackmailer, a deputy named Dauhreeq, who possesses a list of politicians and others from whom he "squeezes" millions of francs, until the ingenious Arsene discovers his secret and robs him of the fateful document which has brought so many to ruin. A capital vam lor a tired, business or professional man

anxious to find an escapo from the worries of tho day. Sir. W. 11. Adams, the author of "The Dominant Uaco" (Bell; per Whitcombe and Tombs) is an ex-District Commissioner of the Gold Coast Colony and has put to very skilful uso his intimate acquaintance with that unhealthy region. Tho plot turns upon the rivalry of two men, one a seasoned Coast official, and a younger man, who goes out to take the other's place, for the lovo of a, pleasant but rather silly English girl, who, falling a victim to tho Christian Scienco crazo, makes the younger lover pledge himself to tako no drugs whilst on the fevor-haunted Coast. Tho -story, which is told with an engaging directness, gives a series of vividly-picturesque sketches of West African life. "Tho Drummer of tho Dawn," by Raymond Paton (Boll; per Whitcombe and Tombs) is, I should say, a first novel, which would liavo been all tho bettor for a diligent, blue-pencilling, Its two chief characters aro an abnormally gifted bpy, Tinwhumlpinny, whoso precocity, however, is not in any way objectionable, and his friend and benefactor, an equally curiously-named Bohemian author, Mr. Aping-Ayres. Tho background is, at first, Chelsea, and then Morocco, where the story ends in grimmest tragedy. Mr. Paton has written a singularly original novel, with flashes here and there of real brilliancy, but reflecting in places an air of artificiality. Exactly how many Indian novels Mrs. B. M. Croker lias written I cannot say, but by this timo thero must be a good shelf full of them. "In Old Madras" (Hutchinson; per Whitcombe and Tombs) is, like its predecessors, a well-written, essentially readablo story of a young English officer who goes out to India on a Quixotic mission, to wit, to discover a long-lost unolo. Geoffrey Mallender goes through many strango experiences before ho accomplishes his design, and discovers in a nativo prince, the Nawab Dooloo of Idacotta, his father's brother. Also young Mallender comes into a handsome fortune, and wins a very charming wifo. What more could a reader want? Needless to say Mrs. Croker is very much at home in lier descriptions of Indian life and character. Thero are some excellent minor characters in the story, which, besides having a capital plot, contains somo brightly* written dialogue. Edgar Jopson is olio of tho consistently diverting of our minor novelists, and although in "Tho Determined Twins" (Hutchinson); per Whitcombe and Tombs) the fun is hardly so fast and furious as in "Lady Noggs ana "Pollyooll.v," the adventure and exploits of "Erebus" and "Tho Terror, tho two mischief-loving and jolly littlo "kiddies" with whom the story deals, arc irresistibly mirth-provoking. Whether thov are building a Cats Home, ridding their charming mother of an objectionable suitor, abducting a real live princess, or rescuing a friend, they arc always a pair of jolly, completely human urchins.