Sir Josceline's Hostage, by M. S. Connie (J. F. Shaw
and Co., 3s. 6d.), transports us to the days of the Covenant, when " Claverhouse and his fiendish hordes "—a somewhat strong expression, whatever the provocation—were harrying the country- side. We do not quite understand what "clansmen" were doing down in Teviotdale. They had kilts, "blue and green kilts," too, we are told, and so must have been Highlanders ; but what they had to do with carrying on border feuds is not plain.—In The Cruise of the Vengeful (same publishers, 5s.), Dr. Gordon Stables, R.N., projects himself into the future. The ' Vengeful ' is a cruiser of the year 1909, travels at the rate of forty miles per hour, and throws a quite unknown kind of shell. It may be imagined that the naval fight which we have the privilege of seeing under Dr. Gordon Stables's guidance is a very exciting affair.—The Wizard's Light, by Silas Hocking (F. Warne and Co., 3s. 6d,), is a spirited story of the South-West Coast of England. It opens with a mystery,—the light of a lighthouse is extinguished; the occupants are missing. What has happened to it and to them ? Of course suspicion falls on the wrong man,—stories would be in- conveniently short if it did not. Then we have the affair worked out with suspense, discoveries, scheming,s of various sorts, all contrived by a writer who has had plenty of practice of this kind to make him perfect.
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