" Deauville, in 1929, was the Mecca of the world's
gamesters, with play higher than has ever been known before or since. It was a place where almost anything was possible. I have seen a crowd of bright young people leave the Casino in evening dress at about 6.30 a.m., trip gaily down to the beach, light a wood-fire in gypsy fashion, and cook a hearty breakfast of eggs and bacon before retiring to their hotels and bed ! " Those who care to may read more about that brilliant season in Mr. Houghton's Adventures Of A Gadabout (Selwyn and Mount, 10s. 6d.). There is also much about Cannes 1926, Nice, Bermuda, Madeira, Paris, and other smart places. The author once intended to travel " round the world on a five pound note " for a certain newspaper, Mit he stuck at Cannes. For a time portrait-sketches and caricatures were a good line. Then he was assistant to a beach physical instructor before joining the staff of the Nice " Continental Life." As a para- graphist he was obviously a great success, as the present antho- logy of gossip witnesses. Here are stories about all one's favourite millionaires, royalties, international gamblers, actors, famous authors, and the gay lives they led in the great days of the French Riviera. Mr. Houghton knew them all, from the Aga Khan to Bernard Shaw ; and even if he has no new story to tell about a celebrity he puts his name down just the same, because, having been a journalist, he knows that in writing of this sort names make best-sellers.
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