Daddy's Boy. By L. T. Meade. (Hatchards.)—This beauti- ful story,
pathetic without being harrowing, reminds us of Miss Florence Montgomery's "Misunderstood,"—reminds us, without sug- gesting the idea of an imitation. Indeed, the resemblance is not in the essentials of the story. Ronald Jeaffreson, already mother- less, loses his father by an accident. The boy is firmly persuaded of what most of us profess with our lips, that the dead are gone before, that we shall meet them again, that to meet them again is the greatest possible happiness. Mtanwhile, he has to stay behind. Being a healthy, vigorous child, he enjoys life, likes vigorous motion and play, and does not in the least appreciate the conventional methods of mourning. His relatives accordingly think that he has no heart. And he has other inconvenient enthusiasms. His uncle, the major, for instance, he invests with quite imaginary heroics qualities, and credits with splendid achievements of which he is quite innocent. He feels, too, that be is bound to help the poor, and carries out the duty with a literal adherence to the precept, "Sell all that thou haat," that astonishes his friends. Besides enthusiasm, he has also dislikes which he expresses with an uncompromising plainness. These things make him somewhat difficile, and involve him in scrapes which the author contrives to make at once pitiful and amusing. The final scene, where Ronald is persuaded that it is still his duty to wait when he had been expecting and hoping to join his father and mother, is drawn with much power. We quite agree with the sentiment that "the world is a sweeter and better place, because such natures as Ronald's now and then bless it with their presence." At the same time, one cannot but think that the world could hardly get on with many of them.
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