Corporal Sam, and other Stories. By Q (A- T. Quiller-Conch).
(Smith, Elder, and Co. 6s.)—These ten short stories show all the literary skill which we are acenstomed to find in the works of "Q's" pen. The first is a tragedy, and might have been expanded into at powerful romance ; but we do not complain, so painful is it, of its brevity. Sometimes, as in "The Mayor's Dovecot," the motive is very slight. The Mayor has his dovecot robbed, and offers reward of five shillings for the discovery of the offender. He had neglected to provide that the reward should be divided, and half-the mothers in the town bring their penitent or impenitent children and claim the money. So the "beater," as he was locally named, is " bested." But we enjoy all the more the art with which this little is made the most of. A real fault is obscurity. We must own ourselves perplexed by mutual Exchange, Limited," the last of the ten, and a practised reader of tales to whom we handed it owns to the same feeling. Now we are willing to expend time on understanding Fropertius and George Meredith, but we draw the line at the short story, however distinguished the writer.
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