SOME RECENT FICTION.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2001, 7 March 1914, Page 9

SOME RECENT FICTION.

SCIENTIFIC SPBAGUE. Novelists who desire to strike out a new line in what is currently called "detective fiction" must bo finding the task increasingly difficult, but Mr. Frances Lyndo, in "Se-icntific Spragu«" (Scribner's; per George Robertson and Co.) must bo credited with having scored quite heavily in tho Way of ingenuity and originality. In his sto?y r or rather his series of stories, he duces us to tho manager of a Western American railroad, who is continually being confronted by the task of detect* ing.and outwitting attempts made- by a gang of unscrupulous railroad magnates in New York toiiijnro the "road'' over which he has been placed in charge, their object being to cither so depreciate' the value that'they can buy it at) their own price, or' so to. thwart and. hamper its -successful' working'as to play into, tho hands of a company owning a rival system, over l which the plotters have control. To the assistance, of Maxwell, tho harassed, manager of tho lino which : 'is being - attacked comes a • burly young scientist from. Washington, cmpleyetl as'an expert by the _Board of Agriculture, but, in virtue of his. Sherlock Holmesdi.ke ; capacity for' solving- the most complicated criminal problems, occasionally employed by the police. Each successive attempt to injure Maxwell's "road" is exposed or .thwarted by Sprague with quite astonishing success, and the author's ingenuity, in working out the various solutions is most commendable- Incidentally, tho story, which ,is . vigorously written, throws some very interesting light upon railroad organisatien and working as they are understood in the United States. '"'The book is .exceptionally readable throughout, my only complaint against it being an peea-sio-nai, out. fortunately not very frequent, excess of engineering detail and mechanical, technicalities. Illustrations hy E. Roseoo Shrader.

"SIMPSON." Mrs. Elinor Mordaunt, whose "Cost of It" was such a. protoising first novel, must be warmly congratulated upon her latest story, "Simpson" (Mettuien: j?or Whitcoiube and Tombs), for it is quite refreshingly original and fantastic as toplqt, and is written with a mast engaging brightness; Mr. Simpson,' a wealthy stockbroker, leases a charming country house, and founds, with the' assistance of some of ,his friends.! men ol- various professions and ©allings, and personal tastes, a soft of Celibates Club. From Fountain's .Court, which the members use for week-end trips and short sojourns generally, all ladies, save, the housekeeper, are. rigidly 1 excluded, until a jolly young girl, the vicar's daughter, breaks in for a hit, and eventually .captures the youngest of the eomparty. One by one the members succumb to the attractions of the sex whose Society they had abjured, until "at last' only Simpson himself is deft. In one case a marriage has a tragic ending, in another, just when .marriage seems certain, death steps in; in a-third there is a marriage which is foredoomed to failure —all is not comedy that arises but of the clubj and the. agreement at which its members originally arrived. But not all marriages in real life are successful. Some, 'like " that _of the-, priggish country . solicitor _who weds with a gipsy. gfrl>_ may even end in tragedy. But to Simpson hims&lf, so pleasant and dawnright honest and likeable man is he, every reader of Mrs. Mprdaurit's clever story will rejoice that tlierc comes, a prizo'iu 'the. fettery. ''A. very-charming prize k tho'es-Chatelnuie ofjKountitiiVß 'Court, for it-is the lady-of tho"ma'n'or herself that .'the hero aiiitjios. I.have said'there is ft touch of fantasy in the story, but there'is also' ffio];e..ihan a touch of the reality .ol life, Aparfi'tob, from' 1 its clever character.drawing the story contains some of the- prettiest.lovemaking, all the prettier in that the sentiruont.is never of thfe sickly sort, that this deponent has met with; in 'rcceht fiction. Mrs. Mordau'nt scores■■ heavily with this clever story.

"THE PLAYERS." There is somo good- light hunioar in Sir William Magftay's' ■'iroval, "The Players" (kodder and. Stouglrion,. per S.'aud W. Mackay), far wliiefi the path to happiness of two very estiuiable young people is thorn-strewn ib'r a; tiin.e .through tho m'achinatiolis of a malignantly mischievous titled danie. a-ud; her tool, an adventuress. A leading'figure' in,the story is a parvenu,. who has become a millionaire and a would-be political per* sonago through his' proprietorship of "the : world-reuowued establishment known as Samuel Pamfret and Co." Mr. Pomfreb, like other seif-mado ijien, has trouble with tlie aspirate, and engages a professor -of elocution,' an exactor,'to act as his consultant in «ral difficulties. ■ '' • :'v That's better, Mr. Fomfrat, Try it again, taking a breath'before each aspirate. < ■ _ /'■ ■ "The ah-horn of the hunter is ah* heard on the ah-hifl," -repeated Mr.

Pomfret with vicious determiuatrou and ill-grace. ... "Good!" the professor somuientr ed encouragingly. "Now say, 'A heart that is humble rnight hope. fair, it here.' " Mr. Pomfret lid so, coming heavily to grief ov«r the less familiar aspirates. '-Again," said Mr. Mowbray Goro, his siobilc face professionally unmoved. "And don's forget the breath before each letter H."

, "Damn the letter- H"! said Mr. Pomfret. "Don'V'Objeoted the tutor. "It's the mast elegant letterin the alphabet, What would th* English language.be without it?". "None the worse that,'! can see,' returned his pupil,, with .'impatient decisiveness. "I got on vefy w c « without it for fifty years, atad made 3. million of 'money, - The letter .Haitc'li " "Aitch," murmured- the professor. "Aitch"—tho corrcetiosi vras accept-

Ed doggedly—"woitld 'ave never' 'elped me " " and . sixpeitco more." . •'-

But the lesson proMetk until wf- leave the perspiring and very irate; list still persevering, Mr. PoniffE-t wr-eslHtt" with the, to him, almos-f ij-i-su-uei-able difficulties of: "Herbert, hold Harry's hand while Harold hails' a- 'hansom," '■ etc:, etc.

FASCINATION. "Fascination," by Cecil C. Lows (London: John .Lane), is a story of lifein Upper Burniah, the leading .characters being a British civil servant, a. district magistrate, and ari-Eiigfisli professor of ethnology, and his yoan# and highly flirtatious wife. -I an? not altogether sure tliat I understand the lady's' character—the author certainly does not make it too clear—whether she h really prepared to "fling lier*bnji)tefc over the windmills," as the French say, or whether she is merely philandering.' Pitt the really outstanding feature of the story is tho author's minute ami rather' gruesome picture of a Burmese ■ hill tribe snake charmer, -and the fascination which this woman-ami her snakes, have for tire elderly professor, a»d, in n lesser degree, for the yeuug raapwtrato. There is more than a-toiieh/.tf the gruesome and uneaiiliy absiut certain incidents in the story, but.tin? ta! colour i is quite arrostinsly forceful ana" picturesque. Rather a queer Story, but at- ] tractive in its way, despite ft curions halting and lack of tliroct sequenw in tho narrative. "THE PRINCE'S SHADOW." Mrs. Baillio Saumtere, who- lias hithcrtou writ'toti stories <fcpli«g with Lajifei, chiefly London suburban life, makes an

entirely now.-departure in he-r latest novel, "Tho Prince';-! Shadow'' (HoiMer awl Stoughton ; pw 8. and W. Maekay'i, which tolls how tho Prince of Ca-stel-Istra, the rightful heir to the throw of Krongiiria, umot-s, falls in love with, and marries an, 'English laity, who possesses the exceedingly luiromantic name of Clara Mul'llns. .When, however, Caste!Istria is offered the throne of Krongaria, he meanly dismisses his marriage with tho handsome Miss Mulling as a- morganatic bond, and marries the daughter of a Royal Jiou's-e. Tho discarded wife, however, witnesses in time his punishment, for a revolution drives tho Prince from his..throne, and ho takes rpfuge in a monastery, his son, meanwhile," he» coming a famous musician. The story elqses with a .vague hint that the son may later on.be called from-musical triumphs to the doubtful delights ami glories of the ' Krongarinu throne. A brightiy-irritten, interesting storr.

Shorter Notices, The title of .'Florence Montgomery.-s "Behind the Scenes in the Schoolroom, being the exjwrieiices of a young tjlov■crness" (Maeniillalt and Co.), is "almost sufficiently descriptive of the story, tho ■moral .of which—a moral lather too deliberately emphasised—is that mothers .should not sacrifice to empty and selfish ■social pleasures' the proper training of ■ their children. Miss Moiitg< reefy understands the child. mind, and writes pleasantly enough, if •at times in a somewhat stilted and old-fashioiied •vrav. •■ ■ ■ -

.-in the Magicians'' ef Cliaruo (J&hn Murray; per Whitamite and Tombs) Mr. Geoffrey Williams gives us an African -adventure story on the. good old Haggnrdiaii linos. The mysterious tribe, far inland, whose.""magicians" possess wonderful hypnotic powers, the young English adventurers, tho native tyrant whom they help- to dethrone, sn-d the gallant young native prjiiae whom they assist *q gain a- orowir—all these are quite familiar. But Mr. Williams must be credited with, having introduced his readers to tvfo quite novel,, if perfectly hK(ious,_ forms of native torture, 8»d g.iveis his readers 'some really first-class thrills and shudders.

Two very readable navels have recently, Woa added to-Stanley Paul's Colonial Library. 'These are "The Adventures of Mortimer Dixon," by Alicia Ramsey, and "The Winds of. God," by Hamilton rj-rummeftd. • Miss-Bamsey gives us a highly exciting, somewhat melodramatic Story of the adventures., in the Chinese quarters of the East End of London, of a young jou.malfet who is told off to'investigate the. mysterious disappearance of a voting Jady typist. . The author piles sensation upon,sensation, but the dramatic element iiitliß story, which is told in a vigorous,'attractive style, i-s agreeaßly varied by a very pretty love story.

Mr. Drunimond takes us away to the South Seasj whither journey g, stouthearted "Captain Joan," and her yooniari lover, in search of longhiddeu treasure, the secret of which is disclosed by her father's will. There is a hire- romantic quality about the story, which here and there is quite in the Stevfcns.on.ian spirit:.

Under the general title of "Lpot" (John Murray; per W-i-iiicombe and Tombs), Mr. Ho-raee Amresley Vacholl Vies collected a 7 number of short stories contributed by him to various magazines. As usual, with such cb-ltations, the quality varies, hut for the most part the stories exhibit a much greater degree of literary skill than is usual with the magazine siofy. The thfco first stories, -tho scene of which is laid in an Italian ' restaurant, Gloi'roni's in Sofia, arc. specially well .written. In Others there is sonic capital lifibt comedy-: One ttftd all arc most, readable.