SOLDIERS OF MISFORTUNE. By P. C. Wren. (John Murray. 7s.
6d.)—There can be no doubt that Mr. Wren has written another best-seller : all the necessary ingredients are here—drama, chivalry and gentlemanliness, a quixotic hero, the applause of the ring, and the faith of good women. These things alone would secure big sales for a wad of the most high- falutin journalese, but the author of Beau Geste has added other and more enduring qualities to the story of Otho Belleme, who " loved chivalry, truth and honour, freedom and courtesy, but was head-strong, stubborn, romantical and most unwise." He has done that very difficult thing, made a servant and not a master of romance, and so, even though he does stretch the arm of coincidence to its utmost reach, the temptation to make a happy ending is diverted by the stronger claims of likelihood, and sentimentality always gives way to humour. Readers who may be disappointed to learn that the "'Soldiers of Misfortune - are not, until the last chapter, soldiers of the Foreign Legion, will soon be reconciled to this story of a heavy-weight cham- pion, which is as full of zest and excitement as anything the author has given us. There is not one dull moment in the history of Otho Belleme, son of an English aristocrat and a good plain cook.
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