The Whaups of Darley. By William C. Fraser. (T. Fisher
Unwin.)—A " whaup " is, we gather, a boy, and Mr. Fraser tells us in a pleasant, gossiping way, of what the boys—and girls, too—did in Darley in school and out of school. They seem to have been a very unruly lot, such as would not be tolerated by a Southern schoolmaster for a day. They made game of their teacher, fought with each other, and played truant in the most outrageous fashion. On one occasion the " tatering," as it is called in England, had reduced the attendance to six, and the six dwindled to one girl, Jenny Black. For three days she stuck to it. On the afternoon of the third she went to the master and said, "' If ye please, Sir, there'll be nae schulin' the morn." What way, Janet ? ' asked Mr. Thomson in his grand style. Because I'll no be at it " Other and graver themes are treated of, and there is an excellent love-story. Altogether this, Mr. Fraser's first effort, is a promising book.
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