The Shoes of Fortune. By Neil Munro. Illustrated by A.
S. Boyd. (Isbister and Co. 6s.)—We recommend people to begin their acquaintance with The Shoes of Fortune by glancing at the illustration which represents Father Hamilton and Paul Greig in a cell of the Bicetre, and the page in which the good Father announces his final philosophy of life :—" Why, 'tis no more than a loose waistcoat and a chemise unbuttoned at the neck. I dared not be happy thus at Dixmunde, where the folks were plaguily particular that their priest should be point-device, SE if mortal man had time to tend his soul and keep a constant eye on the lace of his fall." Father Hamilton is by nature a perpetual child, by vocation a Jesuit, and he has been told off to assassinate Prince Charlie. A complicated intrigue baulks his crime, which is a great relief to his conscience, and he settles down contentedly in prison to enjoy freedom from etiquette while awaiting death. His companion, a young Scot who has fled his own country under a false impression that he has killed a man, and tumbled into a nest of Jacobite intrigue in Paris, is of a different mind. He means to get out, and out of kindness for the lad, who will not leave the fat priest behind, Father Hamilton enters into plans of escape. The book, as may be expected of an author with so distinguished a record, is good throughout, while the whole of this episode of comradeship between Greig and Father Hamilton has a charm and a humour far above the average of the story of adventure and escapade.
Previous page
