EXTREMES MEET. By Compton Mackenzie. (Cassell. 7s. 6d.)—This quick-breathing -plot
of - Mr. Mackenzie's is found in a set of war-conditions not yet exploited by other novelists. Roger Waterlow is acting as Chief of Intelligence in a little Balkan State of a neutral kind; an early indiscretion having withdrawn him from the Naval Service to which he naturally belongs. He has hopes of locating a German submarine, when a young diplomatist requests him to obtain a passport to England for a little dancing girl, Queenie Walters. Waterlow uses her to get some information from a German officer ; but by a series of mischances, the submarine just evades him. He is cheered, however, by the offer of the Q ship for which his spirit is yearning. The crowd of characters is lively and amusing. Waterlow's agents, grotesquely known by the names of the English poets, are surprising types, especially the gross braggart, Milton, and the valuable but avaricious Keats. The portraits of the officials at the Embassy are most convincing ; and their collisions provide much comedy. Queenie, the dancer, is a touching creature, childish and graceful, one of the " slim golden girls of Mr. Mactkenzie's earlier period. Indeed, as many may remember, she was a protegee of Sylvia Scarlett in Granada. It is a thoroughly entertaining story, heightened by a pleasant irony and a touch of wistfulness.
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