SOME RECENT FICTION.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1960, 17 January 1914, Page 9

SOME RECENT FICTION.

A NEW ENGLAND STORY. . ; The New England stories of Kato Douglas Wiggin have always been very popular with New Zealand readers, and the latest work'from the same pen to which wo otto Rebecca Suunybrook Farm, and "Rose o' the River," will, I think, further cement the favour in which this author's work is held. In "The Story of AVaitstill Baxter" (Hodder and Stoughton; per S. and W. Mackay), Miss Wiggin gives her admirers a Very charming study of New England rural life. Her heroine, the daughter, by his second wife, of Deacon Foxwell Barker— "Foxy" ia his local nickname—is a delightful creation, as pretty as sho is patient, as generous as- the Deacon is the opposite, for the "extraordinary unbelievable, colossal meanness" of "old man Baxter" is a byword amongst his neighbours. The Deacon has had, and has buried, throe wives, the third of whom, on her deathbed, tells her step-daughter: "You've got more courage than ever I had . . . don't you suppose you can stiffen up and defend yourself a little mito? . . . Your father ought to ba opposed, for his own . good, but I've never seen anybody that dared do it." And Waitstill, though long-suffering by naturo, does "stiffen up," and there is a revolution at Town House Hill Farm such as that domestic tyrant, the. Deacon,, could hardly, believe possible. Exactly how the Deacon meets his Waterloo I must not say. There is much excellent humour in this story, and an exceedingly pretty Iqvc interest, in which, of course, the quaintly-named heroine is prominent. "THE COLDEN BARRIER." Three recent additions to Methucn's Colonial Library (per Whiteombo and Tombs) are "The Golden Barripr," by Agnes and Egerton' Castle; "The Sea Captain," by H. C. llailoy; ■ and "Ono of tho Angels," by Evelyn Beacon. Mr. and Mrs.. Castlo are practised storytellers, and if tho touch, of puro romanco to which they have accustomed readers of "Tho Prido of Jcnnieo,". "In-, comparable Bcllairs," nnd others of their earlier novels, is hardly so much to the fore in their latest efforts, it is nono the less a' , well-written'and very entertaining story. The ljeroino, a. young lady of great wealth, is surrounded by a host of sycophants'and parasites, but''eventually-iniwries her land agent, an ex-Army man, who has lionestiy striven to protect her from tu-o' impecunious-. -. flatterers, ; : --unpublished poets, aM tihacte'd dVamatiifts, by whom sho is beset. For a time ttio.pair are very happy, but the husband; finding it/ necessary to choke off ono of" the more persistent, and impudent of tho unrecognised geniuses to whom liis wife foolishly plays Lady Maecenas, is fiatmted by hor as having himself been a poor man before, she married him.. An open breach, a parting, aud, for a time, a clashing of two proud and obstinate natures, tho sycophants, of course, highly rejoicing and plotting te further widen the breach, which, however, happily for husband and wife, is eventually ended by a surrender on both sides anil creditable to both parties.'- A certain Isidore Blaiso, a political adventurer, whoso special lino is "the -uplifting' of tho people," is a most amusingly satirical portrait. "THE SEA CAPTAIN." Mr. H. C. Bailey, in "Tho Sea Captain," proves that ho_ has lost none of the powers of invention and vigour of style which he exhibited in previous novels, such as "The tjonely Queen," "Storm and Treasure," and "The Face of Clay." The hero of his new story is aji Elizabethan adventurer, half honest merchant, half pirate, who trades te tho Mediterranean what time tho Moorish corsairs, who put out'of Tripoli, and Tangiers, and preyed upon the merchants' fleet of Genoa and Venice, were specially active. There is , more than a smattering of real history iri this spirited narrative of ' tho gallant exploits of Captain Rymingtowne, but not ono passage is there which smacks of padding; indeed so closely packed with stirring incidents are Mr. Bailey's parres that there is scant room for anything of the sort. If I havo a complaint agninst this rattling yarn of Mi\ Bailey's it is that the author has been, just a trifle'Tno conscientious in reproducing what iie presents as the speech of the period.. ITo may be perfectly accurate, but on occasion one feels that a. glossary would not come amiss. But it is a great story for "cut and slash," for daggpr play, for weasand splitting, and. the like, and a very pleasant 'evening can bo spent in its perusal. ~. „■:....- "ONE OF THE ANGELS." " The "white slave" novel is becoming rather a nuisance. Even when it is well dene, as in Elizabeth E-obins's ''Where Aro You Going To ?" it is doubtful whether the 'moral effect is really wholesome. -When it is made tlio-pro-tenco by some third-rater'scribbler for being ''.realistic"—to catch the shillings of ihe pruriently minded—it is more or Jess disgusting; and, yet again, when it. is written in an'absurd key of heroics and without even a suspicion of truth to life,' it is simply silly. Miss Evelyn Beacon's story, "One of tho Angels'," belongs te the last category. It reeks with improbability; and is "written in a crudely amateurish stylo, which,' even had the leading characters and incidents been more true to life, would,have been sufficient to injure any small chance of success tho story, might have possessed. It would do the author good to read Mrs. Gsillichan's article in ■ a recent issue of "Tho English Review" on the white slave traffic. An ounce of fact is worth a ton of such piffling fiction as "Ono of tho Angels." . ■ ~ ■■■■ "THE PAUPERS OF PORTMAN SQUARE." Miss Wylie, whoso clever Indian stories will bo remembered, gives us some pleasantly-written domestic cnin<xly in her latest novel, "The Paupers of I'ortiiian Square" (Cassoll and Co.. per S. and W. Mackay). Tho ""paupers" arc an easy-going young man and bis wife, who live for some years in luxury upon the uncommonly snug allowance of £12,000 a year from tho husband's highly accommodating uncle, whom the nephew has never seen, and who resides in South Africa. Soli-indulgent slaves, of society, tho St. Johns sadly neglect their little boy of five, a "grass orphan" as ho is called by tho unsparing critics of \ho servants' hall. Suddenly the uncle makes bis appearance, not to tho parents, but to the poor little "grass orphan," to whom he posse, quite in n, DiokesuiiM »tyle, u a kiiid-liearWd,. sill

Ppwerfnl^!;! K m^tliat 5 their- benefactor,' ha's'J.'lpstsliis.' : ,fortinio, <, ;a!id;ith6ro , Tis>'.-tho!tley<:oUb pay' |:}iV' ! l ortmaiiy SquareS;aV"wealtlnv,lady: .iricriul now otters ■.orphan,'.', ami allow a year, and, for a.'day,.-oKsof-'tliore.-''is> : ii'struKglp;:. i t\rixt/parent(il;:affection;i.and tno;Jovo".6f a luxurious life ,j ;.f?HimpilyV liowpv;er;:'a ;i long.lost-(;hqi-<l:ofr:iffect!oii.. istoubhwl;:aml St"John,'>h'6. <'das a, cab' driver;S\\id( iias gone country,.- .come 'Hogether.JagainpS'tho benevolent : '.'g6bliirV-..-piitting ..oyorythiiiu'. right 'for,, the), reformed socict-y-ydler-.- by giving hinra""share in,his Soutlu'lAVrieaii miiinig enterprises',- arid the pari, , .k ; ooi'ning ; lmtui'fldiuscfiil :womarils-i;The" , as .w_e'.Ncw.,Zealandpr»>would say^isiv'a 1 joily,; littles ~ :t he '/author ■ gets some good. fun'..out ; ; of"'the"servants ■ at ; Portman. readable v if, in'many ,Uvays, ; s :^;;|decidetlly4iniprobable:' story^&i:/^.;^^^:^^v;::^.^:.^;^'=v?v^ .•; %f:ft?nSTHE : ,FLAME|pisi|'. i, _ Tmii Saiiinaroz, tho' heroine :'of- Miss Olive Wailsley's...'novcl,v-,"Tho : Flame" (Cassell ahd Co";,:per .&'. ami W. Mackay), and is the;daughter of.two dipsomaniacs/and is'rescued from '■ sluindom by a good-natured "uncle, who has, however, a bad-temperedv abd. tyrannical -."-wife. . After a convent education, Toni "emerges , with moro than a trace of her mother's wijfulness, and is unfortunate"cnoiigh'to fall under .the influence of, and become the mistress of, her aunt's" , brother. Lord Robert Wyeko, whoso wife is in a-lunatic asylum.. A''brief-dream of what the girl takes for happiness is lived: out- at ■ Florence, and ■. then tho nobleman is killed in a motor accident, and' poor Toni is , thrown on tho world. She goes to Paris, where she becomes a brilliant caricaturist. " Thcri; ; - after a time, she meets and gives her. heart to a young Englishman, ..who, , however,.'dis-1 covers: tho truth, as to;; a:,'certain so-, journ at Florence. , ' .The projected marriage is broken off,' but the much-tried girl eventually 'finds peace and happiness with a wealthy and elderly French nobleman, a really good fellow," who has long been greatly-attached to her. I cannot say. that I like the 'willingness with which the', girl beoofhes Wycke's mistress, but in view , of her heredity,and her miserable' life with' her aunt, certain allowances. may be fairly made: Tho story is, much.stronger in literary--stylo than it js in]plot. The" Parisian scenes in .particular arc very,well-done, and ono puts dow'n-l'tho book with;a real affection for'..the'wayward. :"b'ut'.,lovable heroine. x :.y s $ ;v- r^ !, '\ ']■;. ; ' A welcome addition .■■ to ■ ..Ward, liOck, and Cq.'s "World Library" (perS. and W. Maekay) is' , a■''well-printed; , , neatlybound edition of .-.what, -by this time, lias, come to be■ accepted as' an' , Australian classic, to wit,, Marcus Clarke's powerfully written.-, novel, ."For tho Term of His Natural. Ljfe.-V .- Obtainable as it now is, in so handy and attractive; a form, .for., the'exceedingly reasonable price- ofVa. .shilling, the famous story sliouVl enter.upon a.new era of.'popularity.. -■,-":,