SOME RECENT FICTION

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2818, 8 July 1916, Page 6

SOME RECENT FICTION

The Yeoman Adventurer, , ..Exactly 'how many novels have been written on that inexhaustible subject, Prince Charlie's great, adventure in, 1745, I am not prepared to say. bit Mr. G. TV. Gougli's "Yeoman Adventurer" (Mothuen .and Co.) must assuredly rank very high indeed amongst romances dealing witli this particular period. The hero is a young Staffordshire farmer, Oliver AVheatman, whoso special chum, Jack Dobson, is a cornet of dragoons, just off (ivhen, tho story opens) to do battle' against "Bonny Prince Charlie" and his devoted Highlanders. Oliver chafes not a little at tho prospect of having to.be. 'a stay-at-home,- the protector of .fids mother and sister, but a certain fishing excursion makes him acquainted with the lovely Margaret AVaynefleete, whoso fa-; ther, Colonel AVaynefleete, is on the Prince's side.. Of Margaret, who is not only pursued by the King's troops, but is also sorely persecuted by a diabolically wicked peer, young Lord Brockton, the chivalrous young fanner constitutes himself the champion, arid'forthwith becomes involved in an almost bewildering whirl of adventures, in ivhicli" love 'and warlike exploits excitingly jostle, and which are set forth by the author in. a narrative of unfailing .vivacity, ft.narra-; ti've which ends, ■ needless, to say, 'with true love and chivalrous., devotion .being, duly rewarded. The subsidiary love storyi>f Oliver's sister anjl his /faithful' friend," .Tack Dobson, is also brought to an equally satisfactory conclusion. The Prince | and other well-known, historical 'characters play important roles in the story, j the. fascination of which, however, lies ] chiefly in the unfailing entrain of its action and the brightness and realism of its dialogue. I can warmly commend "The' Yeoman's Adventurer" to my Tead- j ers as au historical romance of quite ex- ] ceptional merit,., and ■ the .sooner Mr. j Gough. gives it a successor of the same quality the fetter I shall be pleased.'

The Interior. • It is' a pleasant relief to find Miss Lindsay Russell, in her latest novel, "Tho Interior" (Ward, Locko and Co.; per'-Whitcombe and Tombs), giving us a story-free from suspicion of sectarian, prejudice and acrimony:' In some 'of her previous books she seemed to be following an example set by Miss Emma Jane AA'orboise, a novelist- very popular in the second half of the last century, and of Mr. Joseph Hccking (in the earlier stages of his career as a novelist), making lier plots centre round some peculiarly mean scheme in which a Roman Catholic priest was invariably prominent. "The'lnterior" is a very interesting novel, the hero 'of which, a young jjsiglisiman of good family, goes out to Australia with the hope of making a fortune in the' pearl-fishing industry. Like so many young English adventurers, he lias "left a girl behind him," a young lady whose love of wealth and position proves superior to her affection for the wanderer. When, however, the hero unexpectedly succeeds to an earldom, the young lady, now a widow, promptly cables that all misunderstanding 'is over, and soon, afterwards herself proceeds lo Australia 'to mate sure of her old lover. In tho meantime, however, the young man has married a half-caste native girl. Sho, too, is now dead; but despite the seductive attractions of the English lady, wlio has come so far to capture her peer, that gentleman prefers to wed a very sensible and chal'ining girl, the daughter of a storekeeper. Miss Russell ■will, I hope, persevere in her hew vein. '"The Interior" is in many ways an excellent story, the character-drawing being exceptionally strong land convincing. Number Seventeen, Mr. Louis is a • much-skilled writer of sensational fiction, and ho is quite at his best in his' latest yarn "Number Seventeen" (Cassells; per S. and AV. Mackay). A millionaire American, of highly benevolent purpose, becomes entangled in tho mysterious plots of. a Chinese secret society operating in London. Attempts are made upon his life and that of his wife, and h : s daughter is kidnapped. A rising young author, aided j>y two detectives from Scotland Yard, now. tates a hand in the game, and become engaged on a series of most sensational adventures, the final scene being tho destruction of tho whole gang of Chineso criminals by the leader of a rival society, also of Asiatic origin. Mr. Tracy gives his readers a. most generous supnly of thrills, jand his story is ' olio of the best of its kind I have road for some tin%o past. Unrest.

Whether 0110 wife out of a dozen who might be placed in the same position as is tho lioroiiie'of Mr. Wnrwick story. "Unrest" (Casscll and. Co.; pur S. ami -IV. Mackay), would .adopt so stoically courageous an attitudo towards a sceptical and scandalm'ongerinir world as does Nolla Pronshant I would not Caro even to speculate. For Frensham, a sucocssfjit and wealthy playwright, behaves most abominably deliberately deserting liiti sweet and truly noble-natur-'od wife for a cosmopolitan siren, whoso artificial intellectuality and open vulgarity should surely liavft repelled rather Iliau attracted a niau of tho Fronslmm type. But Circe triumphs for a time, and hauls her victim off to Nice and Italy; Tho inovitablo disillusion hits Frensham hard, and whmi on both sidss (hero comes satiety and disgust, there is an ugly Scene, and a final parting. Meanwhile, Nella, assisted by some loyal friends, has strenuously maintained tho deceplion that her husband has sought relief for lirain lag in globo-trotting. -Ijotv a repentant husband and a doeply-woundod, but still loving, and now completely, for-

giving, wife coma together again I may r.ot say, but Mr. Deeping deserves credit for handling a difficult situation 'in a manner at once ingonious and convincing. Nella Frensham is a charming lieroine, but Judith Rudigor, tliosivcm, is inolined to be a trifle stagey. The Sussex background of the opening 6conc3 is delightful. t . ' Second in the Field. When lier brother, Gerard, falls. in lovo and becomes engaged to Molly Webster, a good and protty girl, of middleclass parentage, who is an assistant iu a florist's shop, his sister Isobel, proud but usually tho best-principled of ladies, is mean euouffh to bribe a povertystricken lodging-house koepcr to swear tuvuy poor Molly's character. The engagement is broken off, but Matthew Grayson, of whom Isobel lias long been a devoted admirer, cannot bring himself to believe the story is true. Molly's sister turns up from MontronJ, and a curious little domestic comedy of cross purposes ensues, ending, I may say, in a triumph of Molly, and the dual discomfiture and repentance of Isobel. . All this is told in Mr. Thomas C'obb's latest, and very pleasantly-written story, "Secoild in the Field" (G.-Bell and Sons; per Whitcombe and Tombs.)

Those who enjoy Mr. Algernon, Black, wood's fascinating storie-s, with their curious admixture of tho supernatural with everyday realism, will be glad to know that a new long story from this author's pen, entitled "Julius Lo Vallon," is announced by Caasell's. It is described rs a "reincarnation story."