27 DECEMBER 1884, Page 23

Our Hero. By Mrs. O'Reilly. (Routledge and Sons.)—This is a

readable book, though it strikes us that the point is a little strained by the multiplicity of details. The point is the superiority of a cer- tain Tom, who stays at home and does his duty manfully, in quiet ways, to his orphan sisters, over a certain romantic and adventurous Allen, who goes away to seek a great fortune for himself and them, but does not find it. The girls at last find out who the " hero" is. There is mach pleasant reading, by the way ; but the whole fails somewhat in clearness.