10 DECEMBER 1898, Page 26

Robin Hoed. By Barry Pain. (Harper and Brothers.)—The old story

is admirably retold by Mr. Pain. He does not attempt to make any fun out of it—he will pardon us for the needless apprehension—but gives the old story with proper simplicity and dignity. The well-known legends, the discomfiture of the Sheriff of Nottingham, the good luck of the butcher, and the love of Maid Marian, are here. Then there is a picturesque story of the King in Sherwood, and a dramatic version of how Robin came to an end by the hands of the Prioress of Kirklees. But are not the " fine old quince-trees " in the Sheriff's garden before their time ?