“There are no improbabilities and no excesses of sentimentality, the style is simple and effective, and the pace is brisk and unwavering.”
+ The Times [London] Lit Sup p621 S 23 ’20 90w
BINDLOSS, HAROLD. Wilderness mine. il *$1.90 (1½c) Stokes
20–14600
This story is divided into three distinct parts, the first and third of which take place in England, and the second in Canada. Creighton and Stayward are partners in business until Creighton, driven on by his wife’s extravagances and his daughter’s need of an education, misappropriates some of the funds and Stayward dissolves the partnership. Creighton disappears and his wife spreads stories about Stayward’s cruelty and dishonesty to her husband. The Canadian part of the story has to do with Geoffrey Lisle, Stayward’s nephew, who is managing a mine there, and who comes in contact with Tom Carson, cook and chemist, who helps him defeat the rival mining company he is working against. Upon his return to England at his uncle’s death, Geoffrey again meets the girl who has been in his thoughts ever since he left England, to discover that she is Ruth Creighton, and theoretically his enemy. The timely discovery of who Tom Carson really was helps him to win the girl and to clear his uncle’s name in her eyes.
Booklist 17:70 N ’20
“His latest effort is a far more polished production than some of those that have gone before it. As it is not the best kind of romance, quite naturally it is not the best kind of adventure, but it serves very well for an hour or so’s amusement, and lovers of Mr Bindloss will find in this tale all the ingredients of his other efforts.”
+ − Boston Transcript p8 S 15 ’20 350w
“Mr Bindloss is one of those writers (all too few) who handle the adventure story without stressing the adventures to the disadvantage of all the other parts of the story. In other words, his characterization is always clear and distinct and worked up with some elaboration, and he has a quick eye at the description of natural scenery.”