Western

FOREST FIRE--Rex Stout--Farrar & Rinehart ($2).

Rex Stout is far from being the D. H. Lawrence of the U. S., notwithstanding the blurb on his latest book, but Forest Fire is an up-to-date, readable Western yarn. Though it gets tragic at the end for no good reason, by & large it stays true to its cheerful nature.

Harry Fallen, a college boy working for the summer as a forest ranger in Montana, was not very good at his job. His attention wandered, he pined for society, he often went fishing when he should have been patrolling his range. Nobody but Harry would have lasted very long under such a single-minded tartar as "Nosey" Durham, who was proud of having the best-patrolled district in the country. Even Durham's wife, though she had cause to complain of his lack of ardor, respected and feared his virility. But Harry had such a winning way with him that his boss never fired him permanently, and once when Harry threatened to quit, surprised him by begging him to stay. Durham got so fond of Harry that when Dot, a "dudine" from the East, invaded the sanctity of the woods and took Harry's mind hopelessly off his work, Durham went crazy with jealousy. With a conveniently sprained ankle confining Dot to Harry's cabin they were just on the verge of a happy beginning when the forest fire broke. The end came like an old-fashioned melodrama, a bit more circumstantial but not a bit more convincing.

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