7 NOVEMBER 1903, Page 8

An Armchair Adventurer. By Harold Avery. (Simpkin, Marshall, and Co.

35. 6d.)—This is a collection of most enter- taining stories of boy-life. An uncle, who has been crippled by an accident, tells us about the adventures of a graceless nephew, "William Edward" in polite society, " Frizzle " to his friends at school. The Dog 'Friday' property of a limited company in which the uncle is the chief shareholder; the love affair with Miss Adeline White (" May-Blossom "—a name suggested by the paternal tobacco) ; the "Cricket Match," where the race is not at all to the swift; the magazine (called the Comet rather than the Sun, because not expected to appear with regularity),—all these and others are very good and laughter-provoking. But is there any English-speaking land where to " boss " is to miss ? He "bossed a catch" is surely an error.