THE FEET OF THE FURTIVE.
The Feet of the Furtive. By Charles G. D. Roberts. Illustrated by Paul Bransom. (Ward, Lock and Co. 6s.)—This volume is by a great master of the art of writing animal stories. To recom- mend Mr. Roberts is quite unnecessary, but it is necessary to say that, though an extremely prolific writer, his books are kept up to his old and high standard of quality. He writes a vivid style, and he knows his beasts of the North American wilds as intimate acquaintances. There is a sameness about animal stories, in one sense, yet each in this volume has its point and its variety. The shipwrecked, naked, roving journalist Johns, who kills a tiger with a home-made lance, is a new character ; and MacTavish, whose tame deer saves him from death, is the hero of a story with human and animal interest. It is so rare for naturalists and reviewers to catch Mr. Roberts tripping that we must point out that the copperhead snake has no rattle. The snake is described as "nearly six feet long "! A big copperhead snake (A. contortrix) is a yard long. Mr. Roberts conducts us in one tale to the abysmal depths of the ocean. Here critics fear to tread. It may all be true.
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