19 FEBRUARY 1898, Page 23

A Rogue's Conscience. By David Christie Murray. (Downey and Co.)—There

are some clever things in this story, as there are sure to be when Mr. Murray takes up the pen. The description of the processes of disguising (almost too good to be consistent with good policy), the companionship of the Irish prospector for gold and the villain Daly, and May's behaviour when her lover is being hauled away, a recalcitrant witness, by the "Judge Lynch" Committee—all these things are very good, and there are others which might be mentioned. Still, as a whole, it does not seem to hang together very well. It is ungracious, however, to say anything adverse to a piece of work so sound and wholesome, and so refreshing a contrast to the dismal and unclean fiction which so often makes a reviewer's life a burden to him.