21 DECEMBER 1907, Page 25

A Horse's Tale. By Mark Twain. (Harper and Brothers. 2s.)

—The best thing in A Horse's Tale is Mark Ilwain's preface, which is given with all his delightfully urbane humour. Whether Mark Twain is successful in the story proper, which is told from the point of view of the horse, may be doubted. As a picture of life in an American frontier outpost the little study is well worth reading. But it is difficult to forgive the author for the final catastrophe. He has no business to make an abrupt transition to the great emotions of life, and to end what is otherwise a pretty and amusing little sketch on a note of horrible tragedy.