15 APRIL 1911, Page 23

Once Upon a Time. By Richard Harding Davis. (Duckworth and

Co. 6s.)—These short stories are concerned with America, and are very interesting and entertaining sketches of different phases of life there. "The Make-Believe Man" is perhaps the moat amusing, and "A Wasted Day" the most interesting of the series. The collection contrives to be light, entertaining reading without being commonplace, though indeed banality is a defect of which Mr. Harding Davis's work has never been accused.