jafery. By William J. Locke. (John Lane. 6s.)—Mr Locke at
one point in his novel admits that he would have liked to make Barbara Freeth the heroine of the story ; we are, on the whole, sorry that he did not follow out his inclination, for Barbara is a delightful person, and, set against Liosha, easily eclipses her. It is a. little difficult to believe in Liosha, "the daughter of an Albanian patriot., who used to kill pigs in Chicago "; and, as she forces herself into the pleasant company of our acquaintance, she strikes us rather as aggressive and irrelevant than as contrasting. But, after ail, the womenfolk of Mr. Locke's story are not of primary importance. It is with Jeffery himself and his three men friends that we are chiefly concerned : since they seem to spend their lives in rescuing one another from difficult situations, they are just the right people for Mr. Locke's work. He loves to balance his characters on the horns of a dilemma ; he enjoys a hurried, dramatic moment, whether of emotions or of events; and of such moments there are plenty to be found in Jeffery.
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