1 OCTOBER 1898, Page 24

Stapleton's Luck. By Margery Hollis. 2 vols. (R. Bentley and

'Son. 21s.)—This is a story of the old-fashioned kind, which does not harass with problems of sex or anything else. The hero is -robbed of some money, partly his own, partly his employer's. 'Who has taken it ? Will he get it back ? These are the ques- tions which keep us in suspense, a suspense not too agitating, 'because we are quite sure that the very good and pretty girl with -whom he falls in love, after the loss, will not have to wear the -willow. The most distinctive part of the story is the sketch of the politics of a Wesleyan congregation in a small provincial -town. It is not unkind, though it is satirical. That people may be very narrow-minded while they are sincerely anxious to do 'right is not a new thing.