17 NOVEMBER 1900, Page 9

Colina's Island. By Ethel F. Heddle. (Oliphant, Anderson, and Ferrier,

Edinburgh. 2s. Cd.)—Colin McVean is the oppressive and miserly owner of a Highland estate. He leaves this away from the expectant nephew, giving it to "Colina." But the dis- appointed one does not despair. If the heritage is lost, yet the heiress remains. This affords a good scheme for a tale, and Miss Heddle makes a very successful use of it. The wrongdoer, of course, prospers for a time. Tale-tellers would have but a poor time of it if he did not. But the experienced reader will not be alarmed. Happily for us, the infection of the doleful end has not reached the gift-book. The picturesque surroundings, the pathetic incidents of Highland life, and other more familiar "properties" of the didactic story appear here to advantage.