THE MAN WHO MADE GOLD. By Hilaire Bane. With drawings
by G. K. Chesterton. (Arrowsmith. 7s. 6d.) —Mr. Belloc's new story starts very well. Charles Lexington, professor of electro-chemistry, is shown how to make gold by a mysterious and drug-sodden undergraduate. who obligingly dies. Lexington has the chemical reagent, but does not know of what it consists. He confides in one Bowring, maker of gold objets d'art. Very secretly the two begin to pass the gold, till Lexington becomes dissatisfied with his share of the proceeds, and consults a banker. The banker tries to come in with Bowring,. is rebuffed, and goes to the Home Secretary. This high official is likewise rebuffed, and the secret forces of the law are marshalled against the gold maker. At this point Mr. Belloc deserts his fable. Lexington tries to analyse his reagent, which explodes : and the story degenerates into a mere account of his efforts to escape arrest. The real problem, to trace out what would have happened had the secret not been lost, Mr. Belloe has not attempted. It is all caught up at the end; we have some pretty satire in Mr. Belloe's accustomed vein, and sonic nice little rides on his pet hobby-horses, but the book does not live up to the promise of its early chapters. Mr. Chesterton s illustrations add little to it.
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