Never in Doubt. By Nat Gould. (John Long. 6s.).—When we
learned from the publisher• that the sales of Mr. Nat Gould's novels "exceed nine million copies," we set ourselves to discover the secret of a so great popularity. Never in Doubt is the only one that the present writer has over read of Mr. Nat Gould's many works. It seemed at first like the synopsis of a melodrama : short sentences, simple state- ments of events, the taking for granted of most amazing facts. And here, perhaps, at the very outset of our search we have found the secret, that a hard. worked public does not care for intricate emotions or psychological analysis, but is well pleased that A and B should fulfil the demands of the plot without discussing their souls; that in time of war we are ready to approve an untroubled and self-confident. writer who will still give us full measure of horse-racing and romance and the happy life of a year ago. Mr. Gould in his latest novel travels backward and forward between the wilds of the Northern Territory of Australia and an English training stable, and shows an engaging keenness and absorption in his own story. Now and then we are honestly thrilled by the adventures of the hero : at all times we are thankful that the taste of the multitude of novel readers is so wholesome and unspoiled.
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