21 MARCH 1868, Page 20

Piebald. By R. F. Boyle. 2 vols. (Chapman and Hall.)—In

spite of its being a ghost story, and of its ending badly, this book is a pleasant one to read, and is worthy of being recommended. We should have liked it better if it had not been a ghost story, and had not ended badly ; say, if the narrator had proposed at the beginning of the second volume, instead of skipping over a year. We do not quite understand now why he did not propose. He shilly-shallied all the first volume, and then he tried to cure himself of the results all the second. Mean- while, he had a famous run with the hounds, which is equally well described, saw some pleasant people, and one or two ghosts, which turned out to be people also. This is all very well, and Mr. Boyle carries us on from first to last with a light, happy touch, and with unfailing interest. But why did not his hero propose ?