New Books Reviewed: O. Henry's Short Stories Page: 781

                                
NEW   BOOKS R171IEIWED.                   7S1
stage," and with " Le Dldatlc" Mr. WValkley is apparently quit,
satisfied.  It is, indeed, te'hnieallv without a flaw, a marvel
of precision, and iiainedliate dramatic effectiveness.   But it
achieves so fully what it attempts because it attempts little.
Admirable economy of French art wit       its haired of waste or
irrelevauey! Such is the hliht of drauiatic eriticisum a>s practised
to-day. The man is pulling a l different way f'ron his critical
principles. But -ir. W;ilklcv's nature is  v mx a  110nm , soiled to
what it works 1in; he breaks a good Iianyl of his own ilaws alnd
is not always consistent or logical.  His " Drani    and Life'
i- like sol e of the ]plays he enjoys, huit condelllns.  It ias ill
places broken the nonuhl of current dramatic criticisml.  It is
the better reading on that anconiut, and ilna he1.  conunended i l  en
io those \is:e )'person  in w Rhom the lpresenlt Iniglis]l st:l,'_e is a
subject of little interest.                      F. M. ('Coi'.
O. fExIRYS S iHOIi' STOR1n S.:':
Folu the fi rt time s~in  the ecipse of  fr. Kipling r the short
-'tory is again beginnin  to miaike pulxic ajil',ran;ii le letlwin Ioo k-
covers. IPullllishers still look upon it sI\n'lIt: a;lskance. aIs oil
onle under' a cloul,. and authors'., worlillv-\\i. . till cliii lx to il
novel s the unquestioned leader. Blt here and tli'e aI writer
now ijoldly lrin.s forth a book of short tales, and ltie pl  li>i'her
does his prt. The s'tigina of the genre is w 'ainx oxfi, and fo l
the rehililitation one mi ua  is chiefly responsible.
lxr. Sidney Porter, ti e g]i   xilalxl wiho, in t1 ileinii a  of soline
of lis lchelictei'rs, is  d(enollnel "  y- tihe ilphonlil pen-oll ll
iof 0. IenrY, has breathed new life into thie short sto. (Giftd
as he is with a flashing, wiit, ablndfant liiiiiior and quick ob-
servation, no subject has lterrors for him. If it h' too imuch
to say, in the old phrase, that nothing hnman is alien to hin.
iat least the Iarer part of hnnanaiti his  1Oiii. Thli  very
title of one of his book. "' The' Four Million," is a       'protest
against those who believe that New York contains only fori
hundred people worth while. O(. Henry b xeks the census-taker
against the social arbiter.  The rich and the fashionable ar'.
* " The Four Million," by U. Ilenry: McClure. Phillips & (Comhpany-.
1907. " The 'T'rinmxexxxx  Laxmp and othel'r Stories (of tihe Four Mlillion." l
U. ]lenrv: MeCture. Plillips & (Company. 190)7. " IlIear't of the \W-,' "
by 0. Henrx': T'e ,lli'e Compal, 190i7.

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