13 FEBRUARY 1932, Page 26

THE LOST CARAVAN. By H. de Vere Stacpoole. (Collins. 7s.

6d.)—Whether one's taste be highbrow or lowbrow, acid or saccharine, good craftsmanship is always a joy. Mr. Stacpoole brings to this tale of the fatal love of a French painter for a Balkan gypsy a polished pen and sufficient poetry to turn what might easily be a second- rate love thriller into a first-rate romance. And his picture of the Foreign Legion consists of more than spit, - polish, heroics and floggings. It is, in fact, credible.