NEW BOOKS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 15056, 27 July 1912, Page 4 (Supplement)

NEW BOOKS.

«Hare« of the Little Horn©"—by Emily Calvin Blake (Appleton, New lork; Robertson, Melbourne)-* a charming storv for children of appreciative years, illustrated and bound in the American style It is well that colonial children should know something of the lives of the little American cousins, who are so ne.r to them and yet so far.

"The Dark Towei"-by Alan D. MxcUe (Scott. London; Lothian, Melbourne)—is a fairly typical volume of modern pMlocophv. It is colouially-written, but does not display the usually light colonial hand, Mr Mick'le being as solemn as it » possible for a self-respecting philosopher to be He could not be more serious it lie had originated the assertion that « we are all liars and nhansees.'

•'How "Twa*"— by Stephen Reynolds (Ma C miliian).-Mr. * Stephen Reynolds writes with authority on the lives of the •noor He lives with them and works with' them; you. have his photograph slipped into this volume in his fisherman s jerEL He is also slowly coming into his own as a writer with literary gilts ot a high order which he is always conscientiously improving. " How 'Twas is a Collection P of stories and sketches which make fascinating reading. There is a breath of breezy and sometimes almost brutal reality about them which gives them a value of their own apart- from then- excellence as an example of narrative art. Air. Reynolds knows his subject and he is a clover' artist. Hie latest book ought to gain him an addition to his appreciative circle of readers.

the Long Library.— the latest additions to the Long Library (Long London) are :-•■ The Spinster, another of the unconventional romances ol mt. Hubert Wales; "A Complex Love Affair." in which Mr. James Blyth takes . a mvsterioiu crime and mysterious people - as the subject of his usual " Daneskire V plot; "Dangerous Dorothy, by Curtis Yorke; " The Spindle." by Elizabeth Har- ,. den; ''A Glorious Lie," by .Dorothea Gerard ; " The Last Stronghold, by Ellen ■ Ada Smith. Elinor Glynn, whose latest sensation was " Three Weeks, contributes "Beyond the Rocks;" Oliver Sandys, " The Woman, in the Firelight;' and Mr. Nat Gould two more racing stones. . "Good at the Game" and "The Pick of the Stable." Among the sixpenny Long reprints are Fergus Hume s 'Silent House," and Violet Tweedales " Hypo- ' crites and Sinners.

"Passion yrnlt"-—by E. Charles Vivian (Heinemann, London; Robertson, Mel- ""' bourhc}-ls a powerfully interesting story * of the infatuation of a brilliant young man and the driftings -of a beautiful woman. , Tho hero, an English- engineer with the touch of genius, becomes engaged to a girl for whom he cares nothing, but whom lie has known and sweethearted with for years. She' appears to care nothing for him, but to be in Jovo with. Love, yet is V: intended to give tl/O impression of abso- . lute fidelity. The hero going to India on .an engineering contract, meets the lady • with whom he eats passion fruit. She had ;■.refused an honest lover—for whom she -would have had to wait in an unhappy home— marry a rich drunkard, from whom she soon separates. The hero loves her, but for love of him she sends him home. On the eve- o£ his wedding to the faithful young woman he ■ hears that the husband is dead, and immediately breaks away. He arrives in India only to find that she had committed suicide upon discovering herself a leper, whereby hangs the tragic horror of the tale.

"The Man Who Could Not Los©"—by Richard Harding Davis (Scribner, New York; Robertson, Melbourne)—is one of a set of five elongated short stories, of which four are excellent reading. _ The ,■ man who could not lose dreams of winners j which always win. This is the sort of j thing that happens after Carter and his j young wife realise the situation:— in J : their honeymoon days they drove proudly, to the track, and when Carter had placed Dolly in a box large enough for twenty, ha pushed his wav into the crowd around the stand of 'Sol'*Burbank. That veteran of tho turf welcomed him gladly. 'Coming to give me my money back?' he called. * No; to take some away,' said Carter, - handing him his six thousand. Without apparently looking at it, Burbank passed • it to his "cashier. ' King Pepp-r, twelve F to six thousand,' he called. When King Pepper won, and Carter moved around the ring with eighteen thousand dollars in ? thousand and five hundred dollar bills in his fist, he found himself beset by a crowd i of curious, eager ' pikers.' They both impeded his operations and acted as a bodyguard. Confederate was an almost prohibitive favourite at one to three, and in placing eighteen thousand that he might win six, Carter found little difficulty. When Confederate won, and he started with his twenty-four thousand to back Red Wing, the crowd engulfed him. Men and boys who when they wagered five and ten dollars were risking their all, found in the sight of a young man offering bets in hundreds and "thousands a thrilling and fascinating spectacle. To learn what horse he was playing and at what odds, racing touts and runners for other bookmakers and individual speculators leaped into the' mob that surrounded him, and then, squirming their way out, ran shrieking down the line. In ten minutes, through the bets of Carter and those that backed his lack, the odds against Red Wing were forced down from fifteen to one to even money. ' His' approach was hailed by the : bookmakers either with jeers or with shouts of welcome. Those who had ': lost demanded a chance to regain their > money. < Those with whom he had not bet found in that /act consolation, and chaffed the losers. Some curtly refused even the smallest part of his money. ' Not with me they laughed. From stand, to f • stand the layers of odds taunted him, or each other. ' Don't touch it, it's tainted!' they shouted. 'Look out, Joe, he'/s the Jonah man!' Or, 'Come at me again!' they called. 'And, once more!' they challenged as they reached for a thousanddollar bill. And, when in time, each shook his head and grumbled, 'That's all J want,' or looked the other way, the mob around Carter jeered. ' He's fought 'em to a stand-still '.' they shouted jubilantly. In their eyes a man who alone was able and willing to wipe th<* name of a horse off tho blackboards was a hero.'