* * * * *

Baroness ORCZY's romance of old Cambrai, _Flower o' the Lily_ (HODDER
AND STOUGHTON), should not be regarded as in any way bearing upon the
more modern history of that remarkable city. It has nothing to do with
our war; it has a war of its own, a rapid affair of bows and arrows,
scaling ladders and such desperate situations as can be, and were,
saved by the arrival of the right man, single-handed, in the right
place at the right moment. Familiar as is his type in novels of
this adventurous kind, I think I shall never tire of the consummate
swordsman hero who impersonates, for political and matrimonial ends, a
man of infinitely higher degree but far less real worth than himself,
handling the vicarious business with an incredible adroitness, but
mistakenly carrying by storm the love of the lady for himself. The
lady is so confoundedly attractive in these circumstances, possibly
because there is about them a tonic which lends additional colour
to the feminine cheek and a new brilliance to the eye. And, however
bitter may be the first moment when the true personalities are
divulged, it all comes right in the end. Here is a story of intrigue
and battle and love, written in the necessary phraseology of the time
and woven round (and, I trust, consistent with) the historical contest
between the Spanish and French Powers, disputing the terrain of
Flanders; in every way a worthy successor of _The Scarlet Pimpernel_.
It is inevitable to suggest that this story should also be dramatised
in due course; it would make as a play an instant and irresistible
appeal to that great public which loves the theatre most when it is
most theatrical. And it is doubtless destined also for the Movies.

* * * * *

[Illustration: SCENE.--_Cologne_--_Present Day_.

"GIE YE CHOCOLATE! _GIE YE CHOCOLATE!!_ D'YE THINK I'VE BEEN BOBBIN'
UP AN' DOON IN FRONT O' YOUR AULD MON FOR FOUR YEARS JUST TAE COME
HERE AN' GIE YE CHOCOLATE?"]

* * * * *

MORE SECRETS OF THE FLEET.

"Few people realise the difficulty senior officers in the Navy
who are married and have children have in making both ends
meet. Naval officers who entered over fifteen years ago did
not, as a rule, come from the married classes."--_Sunday
Paper_.

* * * * *

"Whilst waiting to be bathed, an old blind female inmate of