The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. By Mark Twain. (Ghetto and
Windus.)—This tale of boy-life on the other side of the Atlantic will amuse many readers, old as well as yofing. There is a certain fresh- ness and novelty about it, a practically romantic character, so to speak, which will make it very attractive. Desert islands and the like are all very well to read about, but boys know that they are not likely to come in their way ; but an island in the Mississippi where they can really play Robinson Crusoe, catch fish to eat, and in a way, actually live like real runaways, looks true. Altogether, Tom Sawyer's lot was cast in a region not so tamed down by conventionalities, as is that in which English boys are doomed to live. Hence ho had rare opportunities, and saw rare eights, actual tragedies, which our tamer life is content to read about in books. Of course, what Mark Twain writes is sure to bo amusing. There are passages in this volume which no gravity could resist. Notably there is that in which is detailed Tom's experience with the "pain-killer; which his too-careful aunt administered to him in the hope of benefiting his health. For a while, Tom was content to hand it over to a crack in the floor. But one day the cat came along and bogged for a share, and the temptation was irresistible. The animal, of course, performed the most amazing antics before the old lady's eyes. Tom, asked for an explanation, demurely answers "'Deed, I don't know, Aunt Polly : cats always act so when they're having a good time." Pressed with the truth, and asked why ho had treated " that poor dumb beast so," he continues,
I done it out of pity for him,—because he hadn't any aunt." Tom Sawyer is certainly a book to be read.
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