DOWN THE SKY. By E. V. Lucas. (Methuen. 7s. nil.)
Mr. E. V. Lucas's new " entertainment " reintroduces the characters of Windfall's Ere. Like its predecessor, Dozer) the Sky takes the form of a narrative by the surnumeless Richard, a mild British Museum official, who, having won the Calcutta Sweepstake, innocently spends his newly acquired leisure in motoring about England with his irrepressible friend, .lennv Candover. The present book, which takes us again through the English shires and then to Ceylon, carries the story of Richard and .Jenny a stage further. But Down the Sky is even more disappointing than most sequels. The characterization that was well sustained in Windfall's Eve evaporates in its successor. Richard in particular, with the voyage to Ceylon, suffers a sea change ; he ceases to be Richard and becomes undisguised Mr. Lucas ! Even as an essayist Mr. Lucas is not here at his best. There are, of course, lively and char ' g interludes. But the entertainment, as a whole, is spread too thinly. Mr. Lucas is over-writing himself.
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