7 MARCH 1903, Page 25

Danny: By Alfred =vent. (John Murray. 6s.)—We must own that

there is far too much of the "luxury of woe," if we may say so, to please us. Mr. 011ivant is a young man, we take it; when he has lived longer, he will find out that there are quite tears enough in the world without making more. Of all kinds of pathos there is none so effective—why, it is not easy to say—as that brought out by the relation between man and the dog. In the "Heir of Redelyffe " it is when the dog goes to the dead man's room that the stoutest heart has to yield. And 'Danny' fetching " Missie's " whip---" Missie " was the old Laird's wife, dead before she was well out of her teens—is a very tear-moving creature. Such he is in this scene, and such he continues to be to the end. Those to whom the Zaerymae verum are better than the best gaiety will find their taste amply gratified here. It is a very good tale of its kind; but we must own that we were not sorry to close the book when we had read enough to satisfy the sense of duty.