Aylwin's Friends. By L. T. Meade. (W. and R. Chambers.
68.) —There is nothing special about this story till we get through more than the first half. The jealousies and likings of school- girls, the social distinctions of a little town, and such subjects are familiar, and though Mrs. Meade handles them with the skill of a practised hand, make no great impression on the reader. But when we come to the Australian cousin Hal things are changed. Aylwin's aunt, who keeps her brother's house and looks very sharply after his daughter, goes out to Australia and brings back
with her the four orphan children of her sister. Hal is the eldest of the four, and being preternaturally clever, discovers that his uncle, the Professor, cannot afford to keep tho newcomers. So he sets himself and them—they go down in age as far as seven—to work. All this is told in the most amusing way. Perhaps it is a little farcical, but no one will be able to help laughing over it.
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