11 DECEMBER 1909, Page 23

A Sense of Scarlet, and other Stories. By Mrs. Henry

Dudeney. (W. Heinemann. 3s. net.)—Mrs. Dudeney, having won her laurels as a writer of long novels, now proves to the world that she can write short stories almost as cleverly. These sketches and studies are some of them a little heavy, and many of them are disagreeable, but they are one and all interesting, and that is a great quality in a short story. Perhaps the best of them is the study called "The Shop," which is an extremely faithful present,- ment of the state of mind of an old shopkeeper and his wife whO have attained the ideal of a comfortable retirement after a life of hard work. The book is full of clever touches and is well worth reading. Stories like that entitled "Lovers," however, offend against the canons of good taste.