SOME RECENT FICTION

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 152, 16 March 1918, Page 11

SOME RECENT FICTION

"Hawk of tho Desert."

It is many a long day since I read a more cxcifcing arid better written - novel of adventure than is MisS G. E. Milton's "Hawk of tho Desert" (John ■ Murray; per Whitcombo and Tombs). The scene is laid in tho Egyptian g ou . > dan, a few months before .the war. An ; English archaeologist named Pentland, 1 a selfish, evil-tempered man, and his charming young wife go into the Lib--1 yan desert in scarch of some rock tem--1 pies which the husband wishes to explore, and aro accompanied by Major Durham, an officer of the Soudan Civil Service, a young English traveller named Tem- ; pie, and a Pathan officer of the British Intelligence Department, the latter an accomplished Oriental linguist. Durham incurs the hatred of a German spy, Herr Thie3, who poses as an archaeologist, but whoso real mission is to foment a spirit of rebellion against the British amongst the Arab tribes of the interior. Through the machinations of Thies the Pentland party are led into a trap and captured by some Arabs. How they fare in captivity, how Pentland proves himself an arrant coward, goes mad and commits suicide; how Durham risks his life to save tho beautiful lona Pentland, with whom ho has fallen . desperately in love, and how the German spy, a daring and clever scoundrel, is out-manoeuvred and eventually killed by the subtle witted Pathan, is all set forth by Miss Milton in a vigorously written, most thrilling story, which is specially rich in picturesque local colour. Durham is tho typically strong, silent hero so greatly in favour with lady novelists, but thero is nothing theatrical in the portrait. The Pathan Intelligence Officer, the gallant and resourceful rescuer of the party in its worst hour of peril, is a well-drawn character. A subsidiary interest is provided by tho discovory of a long-lost half-sister of Temple's, who from infancy has heen a captivo amongst tho Arabs, and has been brought up on strictly Oriental lines. "Hawk of tho Desert" may bo commended as an exceptionally good story in its own genro. "Son of Kazan." Although it can be read quite independently of its predecessor, "Kazan, tho Wolf Dog," Mr. James Oliver Curwood's now story, "Sou of Kazan" (C-assell and Co., per S. and W. Mackay) is by way cf being a sequel to that deservedly popular romance of tho Canadian North-West. Baree, the canine hero of tho story, is tho cub of our old friends Grey Vi'olf and Kazan, and tho story of his development and vicissitudes shows him a worthy son of his sire. It may bo that Mr. Curwood roads moro into canine psychology than is consistent witu hard fact, but thero is no gainsaying the power and charm of his studies of animal life. The story possesses a strong human interest in the adventures of tho halfOreo girl, Nepcoso, whose father, Pierrot, tho company's trapper at Lac Bain, ha 6 for an enemy a ruffianly trader, Bush M'Taggart. M'Taggart murders the father and kidnaps tho girl, but, thanks to the gallant dog Baroc, her

faithful companion and protector, Nepeese is rescued by tho honest young nalf-casto trapper who loves her, and 1 lerrot's death is fully avenged. As in his earlier stories, Mr. Ounvood is again most successful in describing the wild life of the half-breed trappers and traders who inhabit tnc» rorost region of tho Canadian North-West. "8011 e> Kazan" is rich in thrills and makes excellent reading.

"Captain Cault." "Captain Gault," by William Hope Hodgson (Eveleigh Nash, per Whitsonibe and tombs), is described on tho title page as "tho exceedingly private log of a sea captain." Mr. Hodgson's hero is an amusingly impudent rascal, the commander of a big Atlantic pas' seiner steamer, who is strongly suspected, and with good reason, by the United States Customs officers of being engaged in certain audacious and highly successful smuggling operations. From a steru'y moral standpoint ono ought not to sympathise with the smuggler and admire the many ingenious and clever devices by which the captain hoodwinks the Customs authorities and defies the efforts of somo of tho smartest detectives in their service to bowl him out. But the cool the unfailing resourcefulness, geniality, and ready wit of the culprit will with most readers outweigh any such considerations. The book describes ten separate episode's ill which Captain Gault plays tho leadingrole, and from the first to the last of its pages will easily retain tho interest of its readers.

Some Australian Stories. From the New South Wales Bookstall Company, Sydney, come three recent additions _ to tho weU-known "Bookstall Series/' Our old friend Steele Rudd, of "Our Selection" fame, is as amusing as ever ia his new collection of sketches of up-country life, "Tho Old Homestead." Don Delany's story, "The White Champion," a story of the Australian ring, : should please readers of sporting tastes. "The Selector Girl," by Broda Reynolds, is a lively, interesting yarn of life in the back-blocks. All threo books are illustrated. Mr. Lionel Lindsay's illustrations to tho Steele lUuhi story are exceedingly well drawn, but the pictures in tho other two books are somewhat crude. . .