FULL CRY.
Pea Cry. By Fred Cotton. Illustrated by Harrington Bird. (R. A. Everett and Co. 21s. net.)—This wide-margined and rather unwieldy book is a sporting novel, written in the well- known breezy style of so many works of the kind. The young. fearless hero and the friend who, of course, marries the hero's straight-riding sister ; the stern father and fond mother; the kind uncle and the Colonists out in New Zealand, where much of the scene is laid,—we know them all. We also know what they are going to say before they open their lips. Fox- hunting in England, hare-hunting and racing in New Zealand, and, after the "deliciously insolent" Boer ultimatum, a little warfare in South Africa form the story, such as it is. The New Zealand chapters are pictures from life. The book is dedicated to Mr. Seddon. Here are some specimens:' of the author's style. After an introduction, "a close inspection of four glasses of sorts was conducted"; the hero and friend "get behind big cigars"; they visit "the shrine of Bacchus" at a ball ; the fox is "the necessary article " ; the relative posi- tions of the Bible, "Jorrocks," and Shakespeare among the "grandest books" of the world is discussed in chap. 6. Our readers will have decided by this time that Pan Cry does not compete with "the best books," though it is a cheerful, healthy, and readable book for boys and their uncritical elders.
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