n this side of the Atlantic at any rate, ever remembers
the quiet towns with Victorian manners to which the diggers belonged
and returned? Both "Tubal Cain" and "The Dark Fleece" are excellent
yarns and wonderful pieces of pictorial reconstruction as well.

* * * * *

After reading _The Searchers_ (HODDER AND STOUGHTON), I seriously
think of myself joining His Britannic Majesty's Secret Service.
All the fun and firearms, and ever, at the conclusion, a startling
surprise for your friends and admirers, among whom you stand cool,
calm and collected. _Anthony Keene-Leslie_ did not deceive me
when, upon his first introduction as a secret servant, he modestly
disclaimed the thrills and excitements commonly attributed to his
trade. I knew that many pages would not be turned before he would
land us in the middle of some crimson intrigue; mysterious strangers,
disguises, cryptic and invaluable manuscripts, urgent telegrams,
codes, Italian hidden hands, Scotland Yard, pseudo-taxicabs, clues
and things. But let others beware of Mr. JOHN FOSTER, a most ingenious
manipulator of the old stock-in-trade and possessing a rare sense of
humour. For the reader to pit his wits against the author's is,
in this instance, to be completely "had" and to become under the
necessity (about page 265) of taking off his hat, not only to the
secret servant but to a mere minion of the "Yard" also. Two minor
points emerge from a close study of the book. The first is that the
author is undoubtedly a barrister himself; if I am wrong on this point
I finally withdraw my threat to join the Service. The second point is
that he knows his Scotland even as well as he loves it. In the result
you have two merits, which together amply discount the element of
cheap sensationalism: one merit is the logical development of the
story, and the other is its beautiful setting. I don't know whether
it is due to the Scottish climate or to the legal atmosphere that
the author omits all reference to the feminine sex or affairs of the
heart; but anyhow it seemed right and meet that women should be
left at home when men were engaged upon such violent and dastardly
business.

* * * * *

From certain internal evidences, mainly orthographical, I am led to
suppose _The Branding Iron_ (CONSTABLE) to be of Transatlantic origin.
This, no doubt, explains my unfamiliarity with the name of Miss
KATHARINE NEWLIN BURT, also c