26 FEBRUARY 1921, Page 22

The Happy End. By Joseph Hergesheimer. (Heinemann. 7s. 6d. net.)—Although

the short story is not the ideal medium for Mr. Hergesheimer's talent, there is much good reading in this volume, which consists of stories of varying lengths. " The Thrush in the Hedge," a short sketch, is an excellent piece of writing, and " The Flower of Spain," in which the principal character is a bull-fighter, although the scene is laid in Florence, gives a vivid picture of the brilliant and brutal passion which is native to that romantic peninsula. " Lonely Valleys," again, affords the reader considerable insight into the terribly hard conditions of the life of even prosperous women in the distant settlements of America. Mr. Hergesheimer frankly announces that the stories were produced with but one object— that of getting-money. If that ia the arse, he maybe considered to have rehabilitated the character of the pot-boiler.