THE SIGN. By Vera Countess Cathcart. (Long. 7s. 6d.) -This
is a strong, vigorous, picturesque story of East Africa. "Tiger' Finch, a District Resident; is an illegitimate son, his mother having been Ann Kingsley, a nursery governess who, after her liaison with Peter Finch and the birth of "Tiger," had suddenly developed religious enthusiasm and become a missionary in East Africa'. There she had imbued the natives with the idea of racial equality, and, before she died, she had the satisfaction of seeing her lesson well taken to heart by her protégé, Pondali Bwanji. The plot turns upon a rebellion inspired by Pondali, and upon the vigour with which "Tiger," ignorant of his dead mother's influence, crushes it. As an actual picture of East African life The Sign is not, perhaps, to be taken too seriously. But, with its descriptions of native fighting, and of the flirtations and jealousies among the English officials and their wives, it is an excellent " yarn " of its kind.
Previous page
