1 DECEMBER 1906, Page 8

A Sea Queen's Sailing. By Charles W. Whistler. (T. Nelson

and Sons. 3s. 6d.)—This is a story of the tenth century, when the Norse seafarers were making havoc far and wide about the Northern seas. It opens with a very spirited scene indeed, when Malcolm, the Scottish noble, and his guest, Dalfin, an Irish Prince, have a very narrow escape. Another striking scene is "The Ship of Silence," a vessel in which the body of some great chief had been sent adrift along with his best belongings,—it is the opening of a well-known saga. The "Sea Queen" herself makes an unexpected appearance in the said ship. It should be said that Deify' is a Christian, for Ireland had been converted long before, while Malcolm and the Queen are believers in Odin and his company. The materials for a good story are here, and Mr. Whistler knows how to make use of them.—Merrylips, by Beulah Marie Dix (Macmillan and Co., 6s.), takes us back to the struggle between- Cavaliers and Roundheads. The heroine has thought all her life how hard it was that she had not been born a boy, and she does her best to remedy the disaster, first by being boyish, and then by actually " transmogrifying " herself with boyish attire. Her adventures are well told. The Puritans are not too harshly pictured,—Will Lowry is quite a reasonable, and even likeable, creature. Altogether, this is a very pleasing tale.