16 JULY 1904, Page 20

One Doubtful Hour. By Ella Hepworth Dixon. (Grant Richards 3s.

6d.)—Miss Hepworth Dixon's collection of short stories is, if not very distinguished, quite readable. "The Fortune of Flora" is the most amusing of the sketches ; but in "The World's Slow Stain" and "The Sweet of the Year" Miss Dixon touches a deeper note, not unsuccessfully. Although these tales have scarcely the subtlety which should mark the best short stories, they are good reading, and the plots are, within their limits, well developed.