SOME RECENT. FICTION

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 241, 5 July 1919, Page 11

SOME RECENT. FICTION

A Successor to "Greenmanilo." ' In ".Mr. Steadfast" (Ifodder .'and Stoughlon, per' W'iuteoinb'e, and Tmnbs), Coionel John Biicban-gives us a worthy successor to liis higiiiy successful "UreenuianUe" and ihe almost etiually popular "Thirty : nnie Steps." Our old nc(|iiainiance, Dick Haiinny, by this time a fullblown urigadier'-general, is nuule Uie hero ol n sefTus of adventurous experiences in wliich there is a liberal .supply of sensational incidents. Heluriiing lo secret service work the special task allotted him is the,' Unearthing, of a mysterious Hun agent, a veritable superman of Uerniau spydom. The story is, in ils earlier chapters, unfolded in a somewhat leisurely manner, but once its anchor gets'well into his stride its interest becomes rapidly intensified. Disguised as a returned South African colonist, of pru-liocr and pacifist sympathies, the hero takes up bis residence in a "garden cily," where, amongst literary cranks anil Futurist artists—an environment responsible foe some very amusing satire—there dwells a genial, rouud-fneed gentleman, named Ivory, nominally a retired South American merchant, but in reality mine other than a German count, who is the head of a vast and peculiarly mischievous Hun espionage organisation. Later'.on, acting upon "information received," Dick goes to Glasgow, where he meets ami becomes the confidant, of. a German agent, a labour agitator named Gresson, whose, special mission is pacifist—and go-slow—propa-ganda amongst Hie .Clyde shipbuilders and mupition workers'. Next we are taken to tiie Western Hebrides, where Ivery has established an "information bureau" fur too benefit of visiting Hun submarines, and,, finally, we reach uio Western front, and a lovely French" chateau, wliich the super-, spy uses as his headquarters. Here occur the most sensational happenings, iu .which a, young ittdy, in whom the hero is sentimentally interested, and who, like •himself, is "of the Service," a very prominent part. The meshes of- the net in wliich the spy is destined to be caught are finally drawn together iu Switzerland, where J very, iiflar having, as he erroneously imagines, consigned Dick to a horrible dealh, •is cleverly cornered and caught in the toils by a combination of forces io which the hero, the young !ndv above-mentioned, and their mutuai In-'iid and associate, Mr. Illeukihbrn; all three contribute. The story closes with a battle .scene, the death of llick's gallant oUPSouth African friend, Peter Pienar. in an aeroplane fight, and,that of the, redoubtable Ivery, otherwise Graf von Slebbing, who, ■in the course of a desperate attempt at escape, is shot down bv his own countrymen. ".Mr. Steadfast" is what boy readers—no bad judges, I can assure you, of "adventlire fiction" even when nominally written for adults —would call a ■ "rattling good yarn." But Ihere .is much "morn iu the' story' than', mero", sensation. Ivery, the superman-spy, smacks, it is true, of melodrama, but into others of Ihe characters, notably Wake, an "intellectual," "C 0.," and pacifist; Amos, the grim old Glasgow v.uker, hard-bitten in his Radicalism, but with no'"time" for disloyalists, and Gresson, a pro-German anarchist of the L-W.W. lyiio—the author hns evidently put some very careful work.' "Mr. Steadfast" should prove as big a hit ns its predecessors; and that, judging by tho numerous editions of these latter, is snying not a little.

'.'The Love Spinner." ■ There is a distinctly old-world charm nliout: Clara' Turnbilli'.; pleasantly-writ- ; ten story "The Love .Spinnt'j-" (Mclhuen ;niil Co.). It is u story which in its own way suggests meninries of ,lano Austen's novels, ur Mrs. Gaskell's delightful "Cranfoi'd." The heroine, a dour old spinster lady, Miss Jessica Mope 'IVinpletnn, is n portrait-study - of which-iinv novelist might well -bis proud. Hhc is i liegood angel, Ihe guide,'conn- . sellnr. and friend of- a ; liltle .circle .of friends and ncuunintances- in a.small provincial town.. The "Sugar.'Ca-ndy !-'pciat---isl." slip is irreverently called-by sonic, lint: if nil Socialism wdrv of the Jessica llopo Templetim brand not oven -the most hopeless old Tory .would, 'J fancy, lind it in his heart to -condemn it. The' Irindly old spinster may be irrepressibly old-fashioned: in her itfeas; to - such members ■ of the smart set as. the Huffy- beauty, Ysoliel; .she may In*; ' the " incarnation of mid-Vic-. .'oi-.Mi•: .sloilgitiess.- But ■in times- .of stress and sorrow her good (|iialities i-nme up so prominently that" nlhlier little fails, and' affectations are at ones for-, gotten. The. wor.il would--.lie nil the,; ■ belter for. a goodly host" -of such old' ladies; .-Not the least amiable of.hey "crazes"—as adverse local-.critics stylo, them-.—is hpr desire to get the right young'ypeople—of opposite sexes—together, and it is this, her ruling passion, .which - gains for her the title-. of' "The-Love (pinner'' is a picture, or series- of. pictures of English provincial midd.e-.. -. class: society in-war -lime, -Miss -Turnbnll's story is well worth ■ rending,. It seems, '.however, a pi (y that so charming n heroine should have beeik doomed to perish in a Zeppelin raid. "The ..Lure, of Lov:." . Percy .Ohcssington.: (ho lieVo of .Mr. William le Oiieiix's latest IhriJlcr, "Tho ' lii'iiv of Love" .(Ward, Lock and Co.; ..per. W'hitcoinbe ami .TonilK] is a foolish young man of good family, who "runs through'' u coql Ihirlv thousand pounds of inherited .fortune; - and, as a 'filial cll'ort. to stem, tho tide of -bad luck.and to put himself 011 his. financial legs again, mortgages .his last remaining property, mill, goes- oIV to. Monte OalCo to "uteak tho bunk!"., lie and his. .fellow-inventor of tlie.usual "Infallible" system nt ■ first - .win several .thousands, but eventually returir to ..Loudon rti a. state of monetary '"stoiiinoss." Now'appears on the scene a .mysterious, so-called American, named t'elcourf, In' Whom the "down, and out'' Chcssington practical.'.}" sells himsejf— plus his personal honour! He -becomes tho tool of the.American, who, having murdered (in" the Andes) the aristocratic owner of a splendid estate, in Yorkshire, induces Chessington to puss himself olf as the dead owner. .The position is com-, plicated by Ohe.ssinglon's love for a', young, lady, named Corinna, and 111 the final seems the action is as fast and furious as the most, devoted admirer, of lcinemato. graphic fiction could desire. Mr. le Queux's own particular public will.'no doubt greatly relish his lr-.test efforts.