iscovery inside that _Quatermain_ is come again! The tale that
has so excited me is called, a little ominously, _Finished_ (WARD,
LOCK), and I could have better loved a cheerier title. The matter is, to
begin with, an affair of a shady doctor, of I.D.B. and an abduction;
none of it, I admit, any too absorbing. But about halfway through the
author, as though sharing my own views upon this part of the plot,
exchanges (so to speak) the Shady for the Black, and transports us all
to Zululand. And if you need reminding of what H.R.H. can do with that
delectable country, I can only say I am sorry for you. Incidentally
there are some stirring scenes from certain pages of history that the
glare of these later days has rather faded--Isandhlwana and Rorke's
Drift among them; as well as the human drama of the feud between
CETEWAYO (terror of my nursery!) and the witch-doctor _Zikali_. Whether
the old careless rapture is altogether recovered is another matter; at
least the jolly unpronounceable names are still there, and the
picturesque speech. Most of the names, that is; _Allan_ of course, and
others, but I for one should have welcomed rare _Umslopogaas_--or
however he is rightly spelt--and _Curtis_, for personal reasons my
favourite of the gallant company that have so often kept secret
rendezvous with me behind the unlifted lid of a desk at preparation
time. And now have we really come at long last to _Finished_? I can only
hope that Sir H. RIDER HAGGARD doesn't mean it.

* * * * *

Mrs. HUMPHRY WARD may be numbered amongst the most indefatigable of
women war-workers. She has now followed up her former success in
_England's Effort_ with a volume carrying on the story of our part in
the War under the title of _Towards the Goal_ (MURRAY). The book is
written in the form of a series of letters addressed to ex-President
ROOSEVELT, as the onlie begetter both of it and its predecessor. It is
further equipped with a preface by the hand of this same able and
clear-sighted gentleman, the chief drawback of which (from my reviewing
point of view) is that it covers so well the whole ground of
appreciation as to leave me nothing more to add. "Mrs. Ward writes nobly
on a noble theme"--_voila tout!_ Her theme, as I have hinted, is a
further exposition of Britain's war activities as those have developed
since the former book was published. In its course Mrs. WARD gives us
some vivid experiences of her own as a visi