Power's Partner. By May Byrne. 3 vols. (Hurst and Blazkett.)-
" Power" is a genial, broad-shouldered giant, for whom Miss Byrne feels, it is evident, a truly feminine liking ; his " partner " is an unhappy man, who, after a life of unsuecessful struggle with circumstances, is wronged by a false accusation of robbery. The partnership consists in a joint dig- ging in the diamond-fields, where "Power's partner" fin ds a very large diamond, and keeps it to himself. The bitterness first caused by dis- appointment, and aggravated to intensity by the wrong which he has suffered, blunts the man's moral sense. How this avenges itself upon him, bow the original wrong-doer is punished, and how, finally, things are made as nearly right as they can be, is the subject of this story. Its . purpose, as will have been seen, is excellent. The writer enforces her moral with no little power. Artistically, it suffers from this very cause. It requires supreme skill to manage a " purpose " of this kind well. The character of the old man's daughter, at once conscious of the wrong
I that he has done (and done, it should be said, to her own lover), and eager to revenge the wrong which he has suffered, is a vigorous con- ), ception ; but we must confess, if the truth is to be told, that her cease- less mental conflicts are somewhat wearying. Yet a novel written with sincerity, earnestness, and no mean literary skill, must not be spoken of without respect..
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