FICTION.
A DROP IN INFINITY!
Gnorrear, whose name is unfamiliar to us in the realm of romance, though his spirited verses, if we mistake not, have appeared in these columns, has given us a curious and exciting story in A Drop in Infinity. If it is not altogether satisfactory as a work of art, that is the result of the false trail on which he starts us in the discourse on a fourth dimension which pre- cedes John Thorpe'a unexpected expulsion from the world of civilization. The apparatus of the opening prepares us for one of those semi-scientific extravaganzas which have become a stock feature in the popular illustrated magazines of late years. But A Drop in Infinity belongs neither to the category of such ingenious fantasies as Flatland, nor to that in which Jules Verne, Mr. Wells, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle have in their respective styles displayed their inventive powers. Mr. Grogan is clever enough to have entered into successful competition with these writers on their own ground, but applied science plays a wholly negligible part in his scheme, The real interest of hie story resides in the circumstantial detail with which he pictures the efforts of a highly civilized man and woman, suddenly projected without resources or equipment into an uninhabited country, to feed, clothe, house, and protect themselves. In regard to climate, flora, and fauna—apart from the unwelcome appearance of a plesio- sanrus—"Marjorieland," as it is called, after the heroine, does not differ substantially from North-Eastern Europe. But, even so, the problems which present themselves to this new Adam and Eve are sufficiently formidable. The plesiosaurus comes on the scene late in the day, but bears and wolves are troublesome from the first. Most readers, if we judge aright, will regard the story as a fresh and suggestive set of variations on that desert-island theme which is responsible for a whole library of fiction, ranging from Robinson Cruses and The Swiss Family Robinson to Sir James Barrie's Admirable Crichton. And so regarding it, they will find much to entertain and surprise them in the recital. For John Thorpe and Marjorie were young people who bad lived their lives in comfort, and even luxury; indeed, we cannot help thinking that Mr. Grogan has credited them with an amount of practical resourcefulness unusual in their class, even in these days of Boy Scouts and the simple life. Still, he makes it all exceedingly vivid, and we follow with rapt attention their laborious efforts to refashion the implements of primitive man, and adjust their resources to the needs of the moment. The competition between the two is cleverly indicated, the woman's intuition occasionally attaining results which the man's knowledge has failed to secure. But this solitude a deux, though it conduces to physical fitness and a certain measure of security, is not allowed to continue for long in perfect harmony. Petty quarrels take place, and then the sudden disappearance of Marjorie plunges her partner into utter misery, aggravated by remorse. His tragic isolation and vain search are described in the most moving pages of the story. Mr. Grogan has here completely succeeded in the difficult task of enlisting our sympathies with the characters of an impossible drama. The situation is relieved by a further recourse to the supernatural apparatus. The lunatic Englieh- man who is somewhat capriciously endowed with the sole power of projecting people into the new world sends off another couple of very different mental and moral calibre— a disreputable pawnbroker's assistant and a young woman of dubious antecedents—and John Thorpe, the hero, is saved from insanity by having to attend to their needs, for they are on the point of starvation when he discovers them. They are tamed by their hardships for a while, but admission to a share in the bard-earned comforts provided by their host has a demoralizing effect on the man, who develops jealous, vindictive, and homicidal tendencies which make him, though naturally a coward, an even more formidable enemy than the plesiosaurus himself. Meanwkile John Thorpe has paid a brief visit to England—the method of his return is rather • ADrop in Infinity. By Gerald Grogan. Longo. John Lunn NJ perfunctorily treated—but his great preoccupation is not to remain there; it to return to hie other world and find Marjorie. We must not discount the excitement of the reader by further description of the sequel, but content ourselves with recommending a book which, for all its short- comings of structure and the anticlimax of the later chapters, has an audacity and freshness which lift it high above the rack of average novels.
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