Chapter 24

20–17072

“The object of this book is twofold: (1) To explain, not only how a trick is done, but also how to do it ... and (2) to describe and explain those tricks which the average boy can make or procure, with relative ease and with but little expense.” (Preface) It falls into two parts: part 1: Introductory remarks; Card tricks; Coin tricks; Tricks with handkerchiefs; Tricks with eggs; Pieces of apparatus of general utility; Feats of divination; Miscellaneous tricks; Concluding instructions. Part II: Hindu magic; Handcuffs and escapes therefrom; Sideshow and animal tricks. There are numerous illustrations.

“The directions are clear and practicable, and there are many helpful illustrations.”

CARRINGTON, HEREWARD (HUBERT LAVINGTON, pseud.).Higher psychical development. il *$3 Dodd 133

20–17105

The book contains an outline of the secret Hindu teachings as embodied in the Yoga philosophy and is the substance of a series of twelve lectures delivered by the author before the Psychological research society of New York in 1918. It supplements a previous book by the same author, “Your psychic powers and how to develop them,” and is recommended for more advanced reading as it contains information and “secrets,” never before published and hitherto carefully guarded by the Hindu Yogis, and shows the connection between the Yoga practices and our western science, philosophy and psychic investigations. Contents: An outline of Yoga philosophy; Asana; Pranayama; Mantrayoga and Pratyahara; Dharana; Dhyana and Samadhi; The Kundalini and how it is aroused; “The fourth dimension,” etc.; “The guardians of the threshold”; The relation of Yoga to occultism; The relation of Yoga to “psychics”; The projection of the astral body; Glossary and Index.

CARRINGTON, HEREWARD (HUBERT LAVINGTON, pseud.).Your psychic powers and how to develop them. *$3 (3c) Dodd 134

20–5132

The author warns the reader that the views presented in the present volume are not necessarily his own but constitute the body of traditional and accepted theories on spiritualism and psychic phenomena. He has tentatively and for the sake of argument adopted the “spiritistic hypothesis” to set forth the possibilities that it contains. This course has been warranted, he claims, by the newer researches and conclusions in the field of psychical research. He also believes that the bulk of the material contained in the book is sound and helpful and that in following the practical instructions the reader cannot go far wrong. A partial list of the contents is: How to develop; Fear and how to banish it; The subconscious; The spirit world; The cultivation of spiritual gifts; The human aura; Symbolism; Telepathy; Clairvoyance; Dreams; Automatic writing; Crystal gazing and shell-hearing; Spiritual healing; Trance; Obsession and insanity; Prayer, concentration and silence; Hypnotism and mesmerism; Reincarnation and eastern philosophy; The ethics of spiritualism; Physical phenomena; Materialization; Advanced studies.

“Perhaps gives insufficient warning to the amateur, who nevertheless will usually find results not as readily forthcoming as the recipes might imply.”

“It is without question the best and most complete, the clearest and the most sensibly compiled compendium of ‘dippy’ lore that we have read.” B: de Casseres

“As a statement of the spiritistic position the volume is accurate, careful, thorough, if never once for a single moment illuminating or inspiring.”

CARROLL, ROBERT SPROUL.Our nervous friends; illustrating the mastery of nervousness. *$2 Macmillan 616

19–18395

“In a series of short stories Dr Carroll, who is medical director of the Highland hospital in Asheville, describes typical cases of nervous pathology—chiefly among the well-to-do—indicating clearly in each case the causes of the condition and how it might have been avoided or overcome.”—Survey

“Another of the encouraging but by no means coddling books which the nervous patient and his friends may read with profit.”

CARSWELL, CATHERINE.Open the door. *$2 (1c) Harcourt

20–10736

This novel adds one more to the list of recent books about women by women of which “Mary Olivier” is perhaps the most noted example. It is the story of Joanna Bannerman, altho it is some little time before Joanna’s story emerges from that of the Bannerman family. Indeed it is never entirely distinct from it. The Bannerman children grow up in an atmosphere of narrow religiosity, bordering on mysticism and ecstasy. Joanna’s after life is a reaction from her early environment. As a girl she dreams of love, which to her means adventure, escape, possession of the world. She seeks realization of her dreams, first in marriage with Mario Rasponi, who takes her to Italy, then in illicit union with Louis Pender, an artist, and finally, in her second marriage with Lawrence Urquhart, finds fulfillment of life.

“It is head and shoulders above the class of books which are commonly called ‘best-sellers,’ it makes a genuine appeal to the intelligence as well as the emotions, and we do not doubt for an instant that it was inspired by the author’s love of writing for writing’s sake.” K. M.

“The novel can stand without difficulty upon its own merits. This does not mean that it lacks entirely certain earmarks of the beginner. It has on the other hand much that more than makes up for a stiffness of movement which betokens the amateur. Miss Carswell will undoubtedly handle her material more easily in the future but it is questionable whether she will be able at that time to bring to a book the freshness of interest and unconventionality of phrase which attracts us strongly here.” D. L. M.

“She does not succeed, perhaps, in drawing merely a normal woman normally, but with great competence she portrays a slightly neurotic heroine of somewhat unusually varied experience, understandingly and with conviction. It is in the conventional happy ending alone that the story fails. In its penetration to the secret springs of character and conduct, in its visualization of persons and interrelated groups, in its mastery of line and its sureness of phrase, this is no amateur effort but a first novel of some moment, provocative of thought and expectation.” H. S. H.

“Joanna and her story remain vivid and delightful and have a touch of epic breadth and richness.” Ludwig Lewisohn

“Sex interests without haunting or obsessing or torturing her. Miss Carswell is in the happy position of one who is naturally frank and naturally decent. Her decency and her frankness are not at war. ‘Open the door’ is quite sure to fasten many readers’ eyes upon Miss Carswell. She can do love and landscape and character. It is more than a remarkable first novel. It is a remarkable novel.” Silas

“Her work has many striking qualities: energy, a rich profusion of characters clearly seen and relentlessly portrayed, and a thoroughly modern treatment of that all-absorbing theme of today—the duel of the generations. One is inclined to think that she has put too much into her book. She leaves too little to the imagination, with the result that very few of her characters engage the affection of the reader.”

“Few have gone further in the successful analysis of motives than the authoress of this interesting novel.”

CARTER, ARTHUR HAZELTON, and ARNOLD, ARCHIBALD VINCENT.Field artillery instruction. il *$6.50 Putnam 358

20–10616

“A complete manual of instruction for prospective field artillery officers.” (Sub-title) Contents: Physical instruction; Dismounted drill and military courtesies; Matériel; Drill of the gun squad; Fire discipline; Field gunnery; Conduct of fire; Communication; Orientation and topography: Reconnaissance; Horses and their care; Riding and driving; Cleaning and care of equipment; Entraining and detraining. There are 272 illustrations, two appendices and an index. The work is based on the authors’ experience at the Field artillery central officers training school, Camp Zachary Taylor, Kentucky.

CARTHAGE, PHILIP I.Retail organization and accounting control. *$3 (4c) Appleton 658

20–20957

This book covers the subject of accounting as applied to the department store, specialty shop and retail store of any description. The author says: “I have long felt the need of a text book on department store procedure, and have endeavored to render my book useful by its treatment of accounting, management and systems. Theory is entirely eliminated. Practical application and experience are its governing features.” (Introd.) Contents: Books in use and procedure; Books in use; Sales checks and return checks; Auditing; Balance sheet (three chapters); Turnover; Merchandising (two chapters); Profit and loss; Burden; Profit and loss; Alteration department. The book is illustrated with fifty-eight forms (tables, charts, etc.) and is indexed.

CARVER, THOMAS NIXON.[2]Elementary economics. il $1.72 Ginn 330

“It is the purpose of this book to examine the economic foundations of our national welfare and to point out some of the simpler and more direct methods of strengthening these foundations.” (Introd.) There is a topical treatment of the chapters, after the manner of textbooks, under which each topic is briefly explained and a list of exercise questions at the end of each chapter. The divisions of the book are: What makes a nation prosperous; Economizing labor; The productive activities; Exchange; Dividing the product of industry; The consumption of wealth; Reform. The book is indexed and illustrated.

CASTIER, JULES.Rather like.... *$2.25 (3c) Lippincott 847

(Eng ed 20–682)

“Rather like” is a book of parodies on English authors, written by a Frenchman while interned in a German prison camp. Before bringing out the work the English publisher submitted a proof of each parody to the author parodied and the comments received in reply are printed in an introductory note. The sketches are genuine parodies, not burlesques. Among them are G. K. Chesterton: What’s maddening about man; A. Conan Doyle: The footprints on the ceiling; John Galsworthy: Punishment; Charles Garvice: The power of love; W. W. Jacobs: The yellow pipe; Rudyard Kipling: The song of the penny whistle; G. Bernard Shaw: The exploiters.

“These parodies are highly creditable as the work of a foreigner, but they are not really effective. One can recognize the subjects of the parodies, but the author adopts the long-nose method in exaggerating none but the obvious features.”

CASTLE, AGNES (SWEETMAN) (MRS EGERTON CASTLE), and CASTLE, EGERTON.John Seneschal’s Margaret. *$2 (2½c) Appleton

20–17318

John Tempest and John Seneschal, comrades and strangely alike, suffer untold agonies imprisoned together in Turkey. Seneschal finally breaks under the strain and is buried in the wilderness by Tempest. So much the prologue tells. The story proper begins with a hospital in London. Tempest is a patient here and as a result of a head wound is suffering from loss of memory. He is identified by the Seneschal family as their son and heir and taken to their home. He is horribly aware that this is all wrong but cannot recall his own identity and his fixed belief that John Seneschal is dead is considered one of the delusions of his mental condition. The one other certainty that he clings to is the face and name of Margaret—and Margaret was Seneschal’s childhood sweetheart. In all the confusion of his clouded mind she seems the one thing that is true and real. After rest and care and love have been given him, his mind suddenly clears and he knows that he is John Tempest usurping the place of John Seneschal. Complete recollection brings problems whose solution taxes all the love and honor of John Tempest’s manhood, but from which he emerges true blue.

“We may be glad of this—that the book with which Egerton Castle has bidden us farewell is not only artistically worthy of one who loved and respected his art, but contains a depth and richness of feeling far beyond that of any of the blithe tales preceding it, while in all the long line of his heroines there is not one finer or more lovable than she who was ‘John Seneschal’s Margaret.’” L. M. Field

“Entertaining and vigorous narrative.”

“The story is indeed one of the best productions of Mr and Mrs Egerton Castle.”

CASTLE, AGNES (SWEETMAN) (MRS EGERTON CASTLE), and CASTLE, EGERTON.[2]Little hours in great days. *$2 Dutton

“The latest volume by Agnes and Egerton Castle, ‘Little hours in great days,’ is one of domestic thrills such as the Castles know how to evoke so well. It is a continuation in spirit and in form of their ‘Little house in war time,’ with the difference explained. ‘The little house, after many vicissitudes, stands, even as the world stands today, upon a return to order and new kindly hopes.’ The Castles have a gardener, now that such men are luxuriously possible, and ensuing chapters reveal in a quiet way the joys of gardening and a gardener. Some chapters are by one writer and some by the other; from long association their style is uniform, and in these garden chapters difficult to attribute—if we had not been told. As with other English writers who cannot quickly forget the war, better chapters follow, ‘Tommy at war’ and ‘The soul of the soldier,’ for example, which take up and also look back upon the man in khaki after November, 1918.”—Boston Transcript

“The best of the volume is in the character sketches it contains, agreeable rather than sharp-cut, of people they have known intimately. The authors’ delicacy is real, their feelings just, and their desire to please obvious.”

“Mr and Mrs Castle will find it difficult entirely to acquit themselves of the charge of having written a ‘pretty-pretty’ book. In writing about the maimed soldiers Mr and Mrs Castle show a fine quality of mind and a sympathy that increases with spending.”

CASWELL, JOHN.Sporting rifles and rifle shooting. il *$4 Appleton 799

20–12388

“The notes and suggestions contained in this book are the result of experience in many lands and against practically all kinds of game, as well as on the target range and in actual military service. Its purpose is to supply data for the hunter against game and to give both hunter and target shooter more simple solutions of the rather intricate methods in use for the calculation of elevation, windage, and atmospheric conditions.” (Preface) Chapters are devoted to: Rifle types; Game rifles; Target rifles; Actions; Stocks; Sights; Cleaning; Bullets; Lubrication of bullets; Cartridges; Elevations; Windage and atmosphere; Judgment of distance; Position; Aiming and trigger squeeze; Stalking and cover; Aims for vital points on game. In addition there are eight appendices, devoted to various matters including Historical sketch of the evolution of the rifle, glossary, and a select bibliography of the rifle. There are eighty-one illustrations and an index.

“With certain limitations, much to be regretted, he has written a very good book. It is to be regretted that Col. Caswell has failed to recognize a wider range of choice in rifles, that he has neglected to discuss the human facter as the principle element in the killing of game.” C: Sheldon

“Although the book makes no pretenses to literary style, it contains passages that many novelists might well envy.”

CATHER, WILLA SIBERT.Youth and the bright Medusa. *$2.25 (3c) Knopf

20–17316

This collection of stories presents four of Miss Cather’s recent short stories: Coming, Aphrodite!; The diamond mine; A gold slipper; and Scandal. To these are added four of the earlier stories with which she first won critical appreciation: Paul’s case; A Wagner matinée; The sculptor’s funeral; and “A death in the desert.” In the early as in the later stories the theme is youth and art.

“The first four are longer and more ambitious, but not so strong. Her real shortcoming is that she is at present quite without a ‘style’; placed beside any European model of imaginative prose she is dowdy and rough, wanting rhythm and distinction.” O. W.

“Honest, skillfully wrought stories. Their ruthless, almost cynical, unmasking of sometimes ugly truths will repel some readers.”

“The author perceives life from many angles, all subsidiary to her comprehensive outlook; she has the faculty of getting under the skin of each character, or of speaking from his mouth: she is economical, therefore powerful, in her management of action, interaction and contrast; she succeeds remarkably in conveying the sense of detachment which the ‘different’ from their kind experience.” B. C. Williams

“As studies of success, of the successful, of the victims of ‘big careers,’ as simply of ambition, above all of the quality of ambition in women, they probably are not surpassed.”

“The thing is told with the utmost skill, and the deftest effects of descriptive incident. The two contrasted personalities are projected as firmly in a few strokes as if a whole novel had been filled with the details of their careers.” E. A. B.

“The stories have the radiance of perfect cleanliness, like the radiance of burnished glass. Miss Cather’s book is more than a random collection of excellent tales. It constitutes as a whole one of the truest as well as, in a sober and earnest sense, one of the most poetical interpretations of American life that we possess.”

“Feeling she has, and romantic glamour, but at no time does she seem easily irradiant. For this reason her very effectiveness, her shrewd impersonal security in the arrangement and despatch of her story, has a formality that takes away from the flowing line of real self-expression. Better than the familiar vast ineptitude, this formality. But Miss Cather is perhaps still withholding from her fiction something that is intimate, essential and ultimate.” F. H.

“‘Youth and the bright Medusa’ is decidedly a literary event which no lover of the best fiction will want to miss.”

Reviewed by E. L. Pearson

“Miss Cather is one of a small group of American authors who are producing literature of a high type and adding to the literary laurels of America in Europe. She is an artist with a sure touch in moulding a plot and depicting a motive. The longer stories here—Coming, Aphrodite and The diamond mine—are consummate in both respects.”

CAUSEof world unrest. *$2.50 Putnam 296

20–19292

The American publishers of this English book decline to accept any responsibility for the soundness of the conclusions presented. H. A. Gwynne, editor of the London Morning Post, in a long introduction of approval of the contents, also points out that its editors do not assume the authenticity of the documents upon which it is based—the “Protocols of the Elders of Zion.” The contention of the book is “that there has been for centuries a hidden conspiracy, chiefly Jewish, whose objects have been and are to produce revolution, communism, and anarchy, by means of which they hope to arrive at the hegemony of the world by establishing some sort of despotic rule.” (Introd.)

“Unfortunately, truth is a matter of proportion. We do not doubt that the industrious authors of this volume have amassed material that might become a valuable footnote to history—in the hands of a historian. Alas that there should lie so great a difference between induction and deduction; and that in the discharge of even the sternest ‘public duty’ a sense of humor should be so essential!”

“The book is one which parlor Bolshevists ought to read, yes, every one ought to read it who is interested in the development of free government, and especially those simple-minded optimists who think that the key to progress has been found and that government is a well understood thing.” J: J. Chapman

“The authors are conspicuously honest, but their honesty inclines to credulity, and they are disposed to confuse ‘post hoc’ with ‘propter hoc.’ While admitting that ebullient Israel requires to be carefully watched, we really cannot, in these days of unstinted publicity, swallow mysterious stories about a ‘formidable sect.’”

“The book which appears under the pretentious title, ‘The cause of world unrest’ contains nothing to make good its pretenses.” Harry Schneiderman

CENTER, STELLA STEWART, comp. Worker and his work. (Lippincott’s school text ser.) il *$2 Lippincott 820.8

20–26453

“‘The worker and his work,’ by Stella S. Center, is a text for high schools designed ‘to meet the needs of boys and girls who feel the urgent necessity of selecting the right vocation.’ It is a book of prose selections from present-day writers, ranging from H. G. Wells to Harold Bell Wright, interspersed with a few bits of verse.” (Nation) “It is not concerned with processes nor practical problems. The illustrations are from artists who use some form of labor for their subjects; they include Meunier, Pennell and Rodin.” (Booklist)

“The selections themselves leave a confusing and contradictory impression.”

“It is rather a romantic statement of modern industry than a true one. The book, however, should find a real place and should give to many students a preliminary picture of the variety of industry.” Alexander Fleisher

CHAFEE, ZECHARIAH, jr.Freedom of speech. *$3.50 Harcourt 323.4

20–22239

The object of the book is to inquire into the proper limitations upon freedom of speech by way of ascertaining the nature and scope of the policy which finds expression in the First amendment to the United States constitution and then to determine the place of that policy in the conduct of war. With a wide and learned acquaintance with the law, the author’s endeavor is to get behind the rules of law to human facts, and although not in personal sympathy with the views of most of the men who have been imprisoned since the war began for speaking out, he declares with certitude “that the First amendment forbids the punishment of words merely for their injurious tendencies. The history of the amendment and the political function of free speech corroborate each other and make this conclusion plain.” Contents: Freedom of speech in war time; Opposition to the war with Germany; A contemporary state trial—the United States v. Jacob Abrams et al; Legislation against sedition and anarchy; The deportations; John Wilkes, Victor Berger, and the five members; Freedom and initiative in the schools; Appendices (including Bibliography); Index of cases; General index.

“This is a book very much ‘up to the minute,’ with which every judge and every lawyer should be familiar as a matter of professional routine; every newspaper editor should know it by heart. Every liberty-loving American will find it profoundly disturbing reading. To those who have despaired of freedom of speech in America this calm, scholarly, sane exposition of very recent history will sound like a clear bell in a moral fog.” J: P. Gavit

“His book is courageous and sound, simple and scholarly.” Albert De Silver

CHAFFEE, ALLEN.Lost river. il $1.60 (3c) Bradley, M.

A story of two boys lost in the Maine woods. Ralph Merritt, a city boy on his vacation, and Tim Crawford, the guide’s son, wander away from their companions in search of raspberries. They lose themselves in the thicket and are unable to regain the trail. Reaching a river which they mistakenly think to be the stream their party is following, they start in the wrong direction and go further and further away. The story tells of their adventures with animals, of their means of finding food and shelter from cold and storm. They touch civilization again on reaching the cabin of a forest ranger, and so enamored are they of life in the open that they decide to prepare for the forest service.

“In addition to its first purpose, that of being an entertaining story, ‘Lost river’ abounds in practical information about wood-life that will make a summer vacation more enjoyable.” H. L. Reed

CHALMERS, STEPHEN.Greater punishment. il *$1.50 (2c) Doubleday

20–11075

Following five years of vagabondage, the hero of this story returns to his home in Glasgow. He has not made his fortune and is not ready to pay back the five hundred pounds his father had given him on his twenty-first birthday, but he returns with a clean record and a good name. He is about to announce his return to his family when fate throws him in the way of an old ship mate, Joe Byrnes, alias “Shylock” Smith. He knows this man to have a criminal record but he is tolerant of his faults and the two make a night of it. He is later a witness to the murder of Byrnes and when arrested cannot clear himself, for to do so would involve the girl he loves. The deep mystery surrounding Daniel Bunthorne, Jess’s father, finally clears away; by a miscarriage of justice the hero’s life is saved. His parents are spared knowledge of his near approach to death and with Jess, he sails away to Canada and a new life.

CHALMERS, THOMAS WIGHTMAN.Paper making and its machinery. il *$8 Van Nostrand 676

20–17582

A work on paper making “including chapters on the tub sizing of paper, the coating and finishing of art paper and the coating of photographic paper.” (Sub-title) The author is on the editorial staff of the Engineer and the book is based on two series of articles, on Paper making and its machinery and on The art of coating paper that appeared in that journal in 1915 and 1916. The volume is very fully illustrated, having six folding plates and 144 illustrations in the text. It is also indexed.

“A valuable contribution that will be appreciated by all who are interested in the operations.”

“Mr Chalmers’ effort, admirable as it is, regarded in its proper aspect as a pioneer to some such technical treatise, falls far short of our expectations in this direction. It is doubtful whether a really practical and useful textbook on the engineering problems of the paper industry will ever be written. The two most interesting chapters in the book are those dealing with The coating of art paper and The coating of photographic paper. Taking the book as a whole, we are glad to recommend it to those associated with the paper industry.” R. W. Sindall

CHAMBERLAIN, GEORGE AGNEW.Taxi. il *$1.60 Bobbs

20–2643

“This is a whimsically humorous account of the adventures of Robert Hervey Randolph, ‘six feet straight up and down, broad of shoulder and narrow of hip, sandy haired, blue eyed, nose slightly up-ended and wearing a saddle of faint freckles, clean shaved, well groomed, very correctly dressed, and twenty-six years old,’ who swaps places with a New York taxicab driver, clothes and all, and gathers some big ideas while studying the under side of the upper world through a hole in the front glass of his car. His experiment convinced him that a chaperoned cab company was badly needed in New York.”—N Y Times

“Viewed seriously, ‘Taxi’ is a piece of sheer absurdity: but it is not written for the serious view. Still, merely as a piece of deliberate nonsense, I don’t find it remarkably successful. Its gaiety is not quite spontaneous.” H. W. Boynton

“The most sanguine admirer of Mr Chamberlain would be obliged to admit that ‘Taxi’ is a pot-boiler. It is not, moreover, a very choice specimen of pot-boiling. The product is of a watery character, in which a few bits of nourishment float pathetically.”

“An agreeable romance runs through this original tale and all ends well.”

Reviewed by Marguerite Fellows

CHAMBERS, ROBERT WILLIAM.Crimson tide. il *$1.75 Appleton

19–18840

“Mr Chambers shrewdly gives us glimpses of two scenes which take place before the beginning of the story, but which are vitally important to our understanding of it. One is a foreword and contains the first meeting of Palla Dumont, Ilse Westgard and John Estridge. Estridge is an ambulance driver in Russia, detailed to take Palla Dumont to the Grand Duchess Marie who has obtained permission to have her American companion and dear friend with her in the convent where the imperial family are confined. In the preface we have an equally important scene taking place in the convent when the Bolsheviki arrive to put to death the empress and her children. With such exciting events behind her it is little wonder that Palla Dumont has no real desire to settle down to the ordinary life of the United States after the signing of the armistice. The story is largely concerned with Palla’s revolt from the conventional and her endeavor to fight the rising tide of bolshevism in New York by preaching her gospel of love and service.”—Boston Transcript

“One pictures Mr Chambers awakened by the alarm clock of destiny to realization that the hour is striking in which he must begin to write a new novel and saying to himself with infinite boredom: ‘What in thunder is there left in the world that I haven’t written about? Bolshevism? Is Bolshevism among my titles?”

“It is all fairly interesting, but rather shallow.”

“‘The crimson tide’ promises, in its inception, to be a lively story of adventuring with a strain of characteristic Chambers romance.”

CHAMBERS, ROBERT WILLIAM.Slayer of souls. *$1.75 (2½c) Doran

20–8632

When the story opens the heroine, Tressa Norne, is on shipboard leaving behind her China and the memories of her four years as a captive temple girl. When next met she is in a hotel room in San Francisco, expelling an intruder by the simple expedient of opening a bolted door with the power of her eye, and causing a yellow snake to appear out of the atmosphere. Next she is on the stage in New York giving an exhibition of black magic, with secret service men watching her. Victor Cleves obtains an interview and enlists her in a crusade against the “red spectre,” anarchy, otherwise bolshevism. For the secret of the bolshevist advance is really magic, “brewed in the hell pit of Asia.” It has conquered Russia, is spreading over Europe and threatening the United States, where already the I. W. W., the parlor socialists and some two million other deluded mortals are in the power of the dread Yezidees of China. Indeed, we have the author’s own word for it that all that stood between “a trembling civilization and threat of hell’s own chaos” was this little band of secret service men and one lone girl. Civilization totters but is saved.

“‘The slayer of souls’ is as good a story as ‘In secret,’ and that is no mean praise. We embark upon strange and perilous adventures, and it is not long that we bother to count whether or not the episodes of his tale are practicable. They are exciting and they are full of wonder, which suffices.” D. L. M.

“It is a well told story, but Mr Chambers, our most shining example of a debased talent, can write better than he does here.”

“The reader sympathizes wholly with one of the characters who at the end of the book ‘whispers hoarsely, “For God’s sake, let us get out of this!”’”

“The stories provide diverse entertainment but are in nowise above mediocrity.”

“The book serves only to show that an author, reputed of great skill in casting the storyteller’s spell over his readers while leaving thought and emotion unstirred, can on occasion forget that skill, and write as clumsily as any novice.”

CHAMBRUN, JACQUES ALDEBERT DE PINETON, comte de, and MARENCHES, CHARLES, comte de.American army in the European conflict. *$3 Macmillan 940.373

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