Books: Poor Johnny

HANGING JOHNNY—Myrtle Johnston—Appleton ($2). For a handful of silver, Johnny the Hangman hangs his friend, knowing him innocent. The horror of it clings, though Johnny escapes the indignant mob to a distant Irish village. He foreswears his occupation, and, a lover of love and beauty, falls in love with an affectionate but unimaginative woman. Practical, ambitious, Anna persuades her moonraking Johnny to earn occasional hangman's fees, and bring home the dead man's things, now a decent coat, now a stout pair of boots. Tortured by this necessity, Johnny broods over his ropes and ring, croons the ugly details to a fascinated...