The Chequers. By James Rtmciman. (Ward and Downey.)— The "
Chequers " is a shady sort of public-house, where the "Loafer," extracts from whose diary are supposed to be here given to the public, met various strange characters. The plan of the book is a little perplexed. But the " Loafer " has to be intro- duced to give a verisimilitude to those revelations of a life which ordinary observers cannot reach. Critics might say to Mr. Run- ciman, "How do you know what you say writers with apparently the same opportunities cannot find out ?" However this may be, these are powerful, sometimes even tragic, stories and sketches. Drink is, of course, the worst of all the evil spirits that make their abode in these wrecks of humanity ; but there are others also, as, for instance, the hideous cruelty which makes a hell upon earth of the lives of the North Sea apprentices. Mr. Runciman's book is painful reading, but it is one that cannot be passed over.
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