grotesqueries
of the tramp and the fantastically laughable adventures of _Wriford_ in
his company--do they mingle quite smoothly with the painfully realistic
manifestations of poor _Wriford's_ state? Can so dreadful a theme ride
off successfully on so bizarre a steed? And then again, was not the
whole agony of the man on the physical and mental, not the spiritual
plane? For did not _Wriford_ before his illness give many obvious signs
of unselfishness? Is there not in effect a certain confusion of the
clean heart with the unclouded mind? I suspect the author has some
subtle sufficient answer. And anyway I urge everyone to make
acquaintance with two very lovable folk, the tramp and little _Essie_,
among many others.

* * * * *

_Ape's Face_ (LANE) takes its title from the name bestowed by her family
upon the heroine. It is not, you will admit, either a usual or an
attractive name; but then Miss MARION FOX is by no means a usual writer,
though she is in many ways a strangely attractive one. Perhaps you
recall certain earlier tales of hers which displayed the same
characteristics that you will find in this, though I think they were not
perhaps quite so definitely bogie. I used a wrong qualification there.
Definite is exactly what Miss FOX'S bogies are not, and in this they
show their own good sense, and hers. She knows quite well that to define
a supernatural element is to lessen enormously its flesh-creeping
capabilities. Your flesh will creep all right over _Ape's Face_ several
times; though perhaps you may agree with me at the end that the book is
really an enlarged Christmas tale, and would gain by being reduced to
magazine dimensions. I have I not yet told you what it is all about.
Very briefly, there is a family and a curse. This curse--with regard to
the exact details of which I still find myself a little vague--used to
express itself by causing murders from time to time among the brothers
and sisters of the House. The tale is told in a detached and purposely
elusive way that adds much to its effect, chiefly as it is felt by one
_Armstrong_, a stranger who comes to stay with the _Mortons_ at a time
when their very unpleasant family habit was due to manifest itself. "You
cannot move about the house without feeling that the thing has nearly
_broken through_." The italics in this chance quotation are mine, and
used to emphasize a rare feeling for the most haunting phrase, a feeling
which