20 DECEMBER 1890, Page 24

Roland Salbris. By Hector Malot. (Hutchinson and Co.)— M. Malot

produces excellent books for young people. He has all the vivacity and delicate humour that are characteristic of the best French writers. The hero of this story is a most in- teresting and entertaining personage, and his inventor does not find it necessary to spice his adventures with the horrors which English authors seem to find indispensable. There is scarcely a drop of blood spilt from one end of the book to the other. The story of how Roland and M. de Bihoret lose themselves in a fog on the sands, and how they are saved by the ready wit and pre- sence of mind of the boy, is excellent.