The Town's Verdict. By Ethel F. Heddle. (Blackie and Son.
es.)—The "town" is, of course, the "city of the scarlet gown' by that grey Northern sea which more than one writer of romance have made familiar to Southern readers. Nor do we doubt but that those who have known St. Andrews with something more than the casual acquaintance made ih the "flying terms" will recognise familiar personages. That dour old lady known as the " deli," that still dourer servant, and the uncanny parrot, are obviously drawn from the life or from jt, very vivid- tradition. We do not put a very high value on the tale itself, so far as it turns on the undiscovered murder and the suspicions which fall on the innocent hero. But the characters are mostly admirable. And the " Chronic " (a poor fellow who suffers from a chronic difficulty of passing his examinations) is in particular a most pathetic figure.
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