AMONG THE BOOKS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13766, 3 June 1908, Page 9

AMONG THE BOOKS.

A t'I.F.vKK detective story, with a bold, bad man to be tracked, and a strong, good man to track him, should be widely appreciated. We may therefore commend '•The Odd Trick" (Long), by Alice Maud Meadows, to our readers. The interest is well kept up throughout, the plot is not too intricate, and the incidents, as a rule, are not*too horrifying; while there is a. respectable amount of love-making to sweeten matters. . -. •

How far may a man go in the endeavour to preserve the life and peace of a much-loved mother? Dick Buttmford is induced to become the tool of a rich Jew, v. ho is the head of,a gang of thieves, in return for his, parent's home, which lies at the. Jew's mercy, Miss Florence Warden pictures the. shame of Dick unci the villainy of his comrades in vivid colours, so that "A Devil's Bargain" (Long) will be enjoyed by ail her admirers. The plot provides plenty of sensation and also a happy end to Dick's troubles.

"The Individualist" (Richards), by Philip Gibbs, is a novel of unequal merit, but in parts so good that the author's future work will be pleasurably anticipated. Its hero, Stretton Wingfieid, brilliant and unscrupulous, politician and novelist, takes advantage of a girl's ignorance of the realities of life to enter into an illegal connection with her—professing to hold the peculiar ideals which her father has preached. The end is inevitable, but Mr. Gibbs gives us poetic justice in the triumph at the polls of Alccia's humble ilover. There are isolated scenes admirably written, and the book interests and convinces us of ability.

I It. Ik well-known, that Robert Louis : Stevenson's opinions of missionary work | and relations with missionaries in the South Seas were must friendly. So much might, perhaps, have been expected from that "something of the shorter eateehist,'* which even Henley recognised in him. We have to thank the Rev. W. E. Clarke, who was working in Samoa, while Stevenson lived there, and who at the last prayed by his bedside and over his grave, for some " Peisonal Recollections" in the Chronicle of the London Missionary Society, which contain an extra ordinal'ily vivid picture of R. L. S.. his wife, and Mr. Lloyd Osborne, It was the day of their first coming to Samoa-—" a cloudless tropical morning," with the trade wind driving huge rollers on the barrier reef. Mr. Clarke continues: "Making my way along the •Reach'the sandy track, with its long, straggling line of ''stores,' and drink saloons—l met a little group of three European strangers—two men and a woman. The latter wore a print gown, large gold crescent earrings, a Gilbert Island hat of plaited straw, encircled with a wreath of small shells, a scarlet silk scarf round her neck, and a brilliant plaid shawl across her shoulders;'her bare feet were encased in white canvas shoes, and across her. back was slung a guitar. The younger of her two companions was dressed in a, striped pyjama suit.—the undress costume of most European traders in these seas slouch straw hat of native make." dark blue sun spectacles, and over his shoulders a banjo. The other man was. dressed in a shabby suit of ' white flannels that had seen many better days, a white drill yachting cap with prominent peak, a cigarette in his mouth, and a photographic camera in his hand. Both the men were barefooted." . .