Footprints in the Snow. By Dora Russell. 3 vols. (Tinsley
Brothers.)—Elizabeth Gordon, who combines the attractions of great beauty and a nice little fortune, has three lovers. Two of them are brothers, sons of Sir John Tyrrell, the great man of the parish where she lives, with her uncle, the farmer ; the third is a cousin, son of the uncle aforesaid. This cousin murders one of the two brothers, his rivals, and makes everybody believe that the other brother had been guilty of the crime. And this he does by the "footprints in the snow,' for he has put on the brother's boots. Now this does not strike us as a very happy idea. We do not believe that he could have got the boots on, though the author, who ought to know more about the matter, thinks that he could. Bat a tall, heavily-built farmer's son, as a rule, cannot get his feet into boots that make "narrow, slim footsteps." Then again, Elizabeth Gordon, for all the footprints in the world, never ought to have believed in her lover's guilt. The tangle once made, whatever may be thought about the manner of making it, there is some skill dis- played in the disentangling. In fact, we get a very readable story,—and several of the characters are drawn with a skill that deserves much praise. Major Dalziel, for instance, and his foolish wife, are clever sketches. We might say the same of Sir John Tyrrell, except that the Sir John of the first volume does not appear to us the same person as the Sir John of the third.
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