My Schoolfellows. By Ascott R. Hope. (Biggs and Co.)—Mr. Hope
has written so much about schoolboys and schoolmasters, that it is surprising to find he should bo able to publish a volume, essentially of anecdotes, which has even the appearance of fresh- ness. This is, however, what as a matter of fact he has done. My Schoolfellows is quite as good as any of its predecessors from the same pen. As the title adequately indicates, it is a series of studies in schoolboy life. Most, if not all, of the boys here por- trayed, have nicknames which are more or less appropriate, such as "Honest Harry," "Lazy Lawrence," "Alexander the Great," - and "Miss Molly Mic Mac." The stories which cluster round these names are mostly humorous, but several are unaffectedly pathetic. One or two of the " nicknames " are rather misleading,
such as "Emily," who is not, as might be supposed, an English boy with a feminine disposition, but a French boy at an English public school, who, when his master threatened him with physical punishment, turned upon him with : " Sir, I am no Cossack to be treated like a cur-r-r-r ! Send me to de dungeon—chase me away —do vat you please—but you vill lie 'ands above me nevare I" Altogether this is a very pleasant and a very wholesome little book.
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