15 OCTOBER 1898, Page 25

John of Strathbourne. By R. I). Chetwode. (C. Arthur Pear-

son.)—It was, perhaps, a strange thing that an English knight should take his little son with him when he went campaigning in France. However, we owe to his eccentricity a capital story of ad- venture. The hero runs away from the ill-usage of a very ruffianly Jacques Tapia, and falls, it would seem, from the frying-pan into the fire. But this is the beginning of his fortunes, which Mr. Chetwode follows out in a very clear and exciting narrative. The escape from the robbers' castle and the defence of the Duchess's apartments from the traitors are as good as anything of the kind need be.