19 DECEMBER 1896, Page 22

The Spanish Cousin,. By F. B. Forester. (R.T.S.)—Luis de Almanza

runs away from school in Spain and takes ship to Eng- land, and is picked up in London by a medical student, who turns out to be his cousin. The gratitude of Luis is described with much feeling, and the unexpected manner in which he is able to clear off the obligation is worked into the narrative with con- siderable skill. Coincidences are certainly very useful to the writer of fiction, and we cannot object to them, though in the case of the second remarkable coincidence we may remark that it is a somewhat obvious one. However, the story is quite readable, and young people will not be too particular,—in fact, they rather like coincidences.