The Enchanted Hill

New York: Grosset & Dunlap. Very Good+ in Very Good+ dj. (c.1924). Reprint. Hardcover. [good solid copy, minimal shelfwear, tiny white stain at bottom edge of front cover, tiny stain and one-time owner's signature on ffep; jacket a bit edgeworn, one-inch closed tear at bottom of front panel, a few other little edge-nicks, still bright and attractive]. (frontispiece and center-spread) "A Novel of the Southwest," set primarly on the eponymous New Mexico ranch, owned by an ex-aviator who falls in love with Gail Ormsby, owner of a neighboring ranch. Unfortunately, the manager of Gail's ranch is "a deep-dyed villain [they're the worst kind] who furnishes Gail with unpleasant facts" about the aviator's life, and even plots to have the guy killed. Thank goodness there's a dog involved -- "a loyal collie who speeds the villain's day of reckoning." The San Francisco-born author (1880-1957) was one of those amazingly prolific novelists and short-story writers, who wrote often about such he-man types as ranchers, loggers, and seamen; many of his books were adapted for the movies (sometimes without credit or payment), including this one. (The film version, directed by Irvin Willat, starred Jack Holt and Florence Vidor, and was released by Paramount in January 1926.) .