Another's Burden. By James Payn. (Downey and Co.)—Mr. Payn is
far too skilful a novelist not to be well aware that his hero's self-sacrifice belongs to romance rather than to the fiction which has to do with realities. "It is magnificent, but it is not life." But, however conscious we may be of this, the feeling does not hinder us from thoroughly enjoying Mr. Payn's story. We are quite willing to take for granted the situation which he postulates, and we follow the fortunes of his hero with an unfailing interest. We may venture, however, to suggest that the novelist must be going too far when he says of his hero that " at eighteen he was a rake." A rake could not have risen to such a height. Apart from this, we have nothing but praise for the story of the young man, and for that very charming creature, Maggie Eden.
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