1 DECEMBER 1894, Page 12

The Face and the Mask. By Robert Barr. (Hutchinson and

Co.)—These four-and-twenty stories, though not by any means of equal merit, reach, on the whole, a good level of excellence. "The Chemistry of Anarchy" is in particular a capital tale. A young man entangles himself in some Anarchist plots, and is delivered by a scientific friend who finally frightens the revolu- tionists out of their wits. Somewhat resembling this is "A New Explosive." The recipient of a terrible secret thinks it best that secret and inventor should disappear together. Of a more humorous kind is "The Predicament of M. de Plonville." Now and then we might wish for a different subject or a different treatment, but the whole book can be praised with as little reserve as may be.