side the mind and imagination of Baxter, then he could not act in two separate and mutually exclusive manners. He could not both jump from the window and return to Anson. He must make a choice, and Baxter himself must believe in this choice, if he expects his readers to do so. It is elementary to reiterate that every action taken by fictional personality must be in character, and that two mutually antagonistic actions could not be effected by one person in one set of cir-

cumstances.

Upon discovery of the two versions of the Baxter novel, I immediately felt that Tony Kent was destroyed as a convincing portrait for me (despite some very important qualities of the novel) and I cannot see how he can be more than an unreal fictional two-dimensional being for Baxter himself, if he is so completely Baxter's puppet.

There is an ironical note, however, in a review which this book received in Time, and which was quoted by the publisher's in their advertising.

Whether very much can be salvaged from the wreck of Captain Anthony Kent is problematical, but Author Baxter lets him live for a try. It is nearly the only mercy in Author Baxter's book.

London papers, please do not copy.

Donald Webster Cory

Editorial Note: On the other hand, there are always the gods disguised as publishers who have a bit to say about "justice", "legality" and "taste" in the manuscripts they purchase. Writers are invited to refute Mr. Cory.

one

am

As from a mental bestiary

I recall these presences:

the timid rattlesnake that slid away, the lizard captured with a noose of grass, the white herons in the woods in Oregon, then summon up the tactile sense of rocks, collected agates, minerals and lavas, or colored bottle fragments from a beach; just so I think of rare and curious lovers: the tugboat captain in the old hotel, the sailors interchanged beneath the pier, the man who had on women's underwear.

R. S.

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