"La Bella," and Others. Being certain stories recollected by Egerton
Castle. (Cassell and Co.)—Mr. Egerton Castle's stories are all that the short story should be,—dramatic, finished, and, many will add, tragic. "La Be]la," the story of two Italian noble- men who keep themselves alive by giving fencing-lessons, and who fall in love with the same woman, is the best in the book. Almost as good, and much more imaginative, is "The Re- nommist." "The New Sensation" and "The Baron's Quarry" are rather more forced as regards the dramatic incidents of the narrative ; and "The Baron's Quarry,' though striking, is a terribly grim conception. Of these nine sketches, some are not new, but no one can grudge the republication of them. The first two, "The Clank of Steel" division, are the best, as a master of the art of fence would naturally be most at home in them.
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