The Knight Punctilious. By Arthur Moore. (Methuen and Co, 6s.)—It
is a terrible trial for two unhappy young men to be exposed to a fire of contradictory but authentic wills which leave a particular estate alternately to each of them, and which fall like bolts from the blue about once in three months. The hero of the story, Miles Vandals, the "Knight Punctilious," emerges scatheless from the ordeal, as his great idea in life is always that some one else has "a moral claim" on his possessions. He is a very delightful person, and far more living than most heroes of fiction; and the reader cannot help being sorry that the testator, who had full power of appointment between him and his flu- unworthy cousin, Edgar Dainton, did not take the trouble to find out Miles's record and make his acquaintance during his lifetime, in which case all the trouble would have been saved. However, as that course of action would have resulted in the author saying with the Needy Knife-grinder, " Story ? God bless you! I have none to tell, Sir," perhaps things are as well left alone. For it would have been a great pity had this story not been written, as it is a good deal above the ordinary level of fiction. Though in no sense a great work, the book is eminently pleasant reading, and the character-drawing is excellent. The hero—and it must be repeated how particularly attractive the author has contrived to make him—the heroine, the old lawyer, and a host of minor characters all stand out from their background with great liveliness and distinctness; and most readers will share the present writer's feeling of regret when the last page is reached and matters are finally adjusted, —strictly, be it said, to the satisfaction of the "Knight Punctilious."
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