Not Out. By Kent Carr. (S. W. Partridge and Co.
5s.)—We are safe in saying that Henry Gothard is the most unconventional head-master ever delineated in schoolboy fiction. We have known men who did not answer to the ordinary type, but it has required more enterprise than the tellers of school-stories possess, or have thought necessary, to portray one who is distinctly the hem of the narrative. Not Out, then, is not only an excellent story—for several boys in it are most interesting and lifelike characters— but it has a thoroughly original head-master, who, succeeding a most effective man, first makes himself intensely disliked, and at last wins the school over completely. We have read the tale with unflagging appreciation, and it is only a compliment to the author when we add that one or two criticisms are unavoidable. A school to all intents and purposes is a palace of truth, and a fierce light beats on masters as well as boys, but to throw the limelight on Henry Gothard quite so continuously seems to us one mistake, and to give the boys the freedom and license they use towards him another. A boy would say so himself. The attitude of the head boy Hervey is very nearly unthinkable. He is a prig, too, but that is a mistake of another kind. The author has the right to develop his theme as he thinks best, but the moral teaching of a school-tale must come first. However, the story is excellent in many ways. It is never weak or dull, there are stirring scenes in it, and the dramatic interest is well sustained. The humour is abundant, and so are the cleverness and ingenuity of the boys. There are materials and ideas enough in it to furnish three ordinary tales of school life, and it must be pronounced one of the best books of its class for the year.
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