The leaves are falling from the trees in larger and larger showers every day, motor-car after motor-car is being put into its winter vaseline, the south of Scotland has already enjoyed a frost of fourteen degrees. Truly it is time to betake ourselves once more seriously to Bridge. Indeed, at the clubs devoted to that sport, half the tables have been filled up during the last fortnight or more. Accordingly, the week after next we shall begin a new Competition of the kind our readers have assured us they prefer, a Competition in Declarations. We, too, prefer these simp'er competitions to the somewhat trying puzzles set for experts, since the solutions of them

by Newnes, is an excellent short book on it. Again, Dalton's "Bridge Abridged," published by De La Rue, has already reached its sixth edition. It is a very clear and lucid exposition of the practice of the game in about a hundred pages. I do not myself find him entirely sound, especially in the matter of original defensive declarations, black or red, of which he is, for the most part, a strong opponent, or in the matter of the heart convention, of which he is also an opponent. Also I find his advice in the matter of doubling far on the timid side. But he makes up for this by the excellence of his disquisitions on the declarations generally, and such

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are so much a matter of common-sense and judgment, that the average, or even the under-the-average, player has a very good chance of success in them, as our experience has again and again shown. In the issue after next, therefore, we shall start one of these Competitions, probably it will be an Eight Weeks' Competition, with prizes for the best solutions each week.

Bridge Books

Players are always asking me for a short book on Bridge. They complain, with some justice, that by the time they have reached the end of the long treatises on the game, they have forgotten the beginning of them. Well, there are several short books on the game. "Elwell on Bridge," published

chapters as that on the abuse of the no-trump call and the original diamond call. On the whole, therefore, you will arise from the perusal of his work

wiser and a better player. His other book, "Bridge at a Glance," is even shorter. It is, as he describes it, "A handy work of easy reference," in which all the principal points of the game are touched on, and arranged in alphabetical order, so that if you are ignorant or in doubt about any point, you can look it up in the shortest possible time. It is thickly set with general maxims, which contain in an easily acquired form, the summing up of pages of discussion. It is, in fact, an abridgement of "Bridge Abridged," though, on certain points, it is open to the same criticism as I passed on the larger volume. PROBLEMATICUS.

Of infantile genius we have enough and to spare in these days, though hardly of the kind which made Pet Marjorie so lovable. The subject of this little biography, of which a new edition has recently been published by Messrs Simpkin, Marshall (2s. 6d.), was barely nine when she died, yet she left behind "literary remains" of the most delightful nature ir the way of letters, journals, and childish attempts a verse. The friend of Si Walter Scott, whose delight it was, in the intervals between his tremendous spells of work, to spend hours in her company playing with her and answering her naïve little questions, Marjorie has also received her tribute of praise from Mr. Swinburne, who commemorated her in some well-known lines. Marjorie's influence was so great that she has found a place in the "Dictionary of National Biography," in which Sir Leslie Stephen said of her: "Pet Marjorie's life is probably the shortest to be recorded in these volumes, yet she is one of the most charming characters." Everything which passed

NOVELS AND STORIES

"The Red Reaper." By John A. Steuart. (Hodder and Stoughton: 6s.)

"Moscow." By Fred. Whishaw. (Longmans: 6s.) "Captains All." By W. W. Jacobs. (Hodder and Stoughton: 3s. 6d.)

"Susan Clegg." By Miss Anne Warner. (Dean: 35. 6.7.) "The Black Spaniel." By Robert Hichens. (Methuen : 6s.)

The publication of biographies still goes on apace, and we have not space for more than to mention some recent publications of this sort by name. There is much that is humorous, and still more, viewed rightly, that is pathetic, in Mr. Hickory Wood's Life of Dan Leno (Methuen), which will no doubt be widely read. By far the most important of the new batch of biographies is that of Dr. Alfred Russell Wallace, by himself. In two well-packed volumes we have laid before us a record of events and opinions extending over nearly eighty years, during which time Dr. Wallace has not only earned a reputation as our foremost scientist for original research, but has also been to the front in religious, political, and social life. It would be hard to over-praise these volumes, which should, on no account, be missed.

through her innocent little mind she set down from day to day in her journals-her prayers, her efforts and failures to be good, her work, her childish loves-all these are intermingled with the moral precepts which it was the fashion of the age to impose in a bewildering manner upon children. Of the multiplication table, Marjorie says: "I am now going to tell you about the horrible and wretched plaege that my multiplication table gives me you cant conceive it-the most Devilish thing is 8 times 7 & 7 times 7 it is what nature itself cant endure." It will be seen that Marjorie has a spelling and phraseology of her own. Her opinions on books. are everywhere refreshing. As this :-"I like sermons better than lectures Joy depends on thou O virtue Tom Jones & Gray's Elegey in a country churchyard

It is not every author, who, coming to the front by winning a publisher's competition, could have justified her reputation with such a book as Saints in Society (Fisher Unwin), and Mrs. Margaret Baillie-Saunders. is heartily to be congratulated on her first novel. It is true the drab side of life is shown with very little relief, and the observant will notice an unthinking lapse here and there on the part of the author into the first person, but after reading this work, one looks forward with expectation to the author's next book. We should like to think that Saints in Society has met with the success it deserves, for there is much sound thinking of a very high

order in it, and the characters, apart from being the mouthpieces which give vent to solutions. of sociological problems, interest us on the human side. Mark Hading and his wife are well and skilfully drawn, though we think that they are eclipsed by the author's portraiture of Lady Vera Vade, who, as the type of a particular woman common in Society circles, is drawn with striking fidelity. The book wants but one thing which would have gone far to save it from exerting a depressing influence from cover to cover, and that is-humour. This quality would not have detracted from the obvious purpose of the book, while it would most certainly have made it more readable, and, at the same time, given us a wider and truer picture of life in "the deeps," which is not altogether without its brighter aspects. Put this down on your library list, for it is well worth the reading.

Two Years in the Antarctic, by Lieut. A. B. Armitage, is a book by a young officer who was second in command under Captain Scott on the Discovery. Lieut. Armitage has brought his discipline into literature, for his book, no doubt like his work on the Discovery, supplements admirably the labours of his chief. Captain Scott, in The Voyage of the Discovery (Smith, Elder; 2 vols.), has told at length the results

of his arduous two years amid the rigours of the Southern Polar Seas, and, in pleasant guise, Lieut. Armitage comes forward to tell of the personal side of the business-to tell us of the life led by the men who, "in the silence of those icy regions, toil on at the dra-ropes of a heavy sledge

reau...

A BOOKMAN'S GOSSIP

A Tale of the Montrose

Historical novels have been so numerous in recent years that one might imagine the theme: were well-nigh exhausted, all the interesting periods and personages of history exploited; but now and again a writer comes forward with a new book which reminds us that there are picturesque personalities still awaiting the pen of the novelist. Mr. John A. Steuart, in his latest novel, "The Red Reaper" (Hodder: 6s.), offers us a case in point, for although Sir Walter Scott has given the Marquis of Montrose his place in classic fiction, this ideal figure of historical romance has been curiously neglected by present-day novelists.

for the advancement of human knowledge." A stirring tale; the more thrilling because of its obvious modesty and truth. When you have finished scientific results of the expedition as set fort V Captain Scott, turn to the book by his lieutenant and see how forty-six men spent two years away from everything which, to the civilised being, means comfort. Mr. Alston Rivers has sent us a volume entitled, The Siege of the South Pole, by Hugh R. Mill, which is a history of explorations in the Southern Seas. This work is one of an important series dealing with exploration the world over, which is under the editorship of Dr. J. Scott Keltie. We hope to deal with The Siege of the South Pole next week, and shall await with interest the next volume of the series announced for publication, which is to be called "Tibet the Mysterious," and is by so eminent an authority as Colonel Sir Thomas Holdich. G. F. J.

In Mr. Neil Munro's " John Splendid," it is Argyle, and not Montrose, who plays the leading part in the drama, and the late Mr. J. Maclaren Cobban, admirable novelist though he was-as one must admit in recalling "The Red Sultan" I cannot be said to have made much of Montrose in "The Angel of the Covenant," designed as in off-set to Mr. Munro's fine romance. But it is not too much to say that Mr. Steuart has quite succeeded, and that "The Red Reaper" will take its place among the best of recent historical novels. The book is built four-square, and, both in point of dramatic fitness and character, meets all the requirements of a thoroughly good novel.

A Tale of Old Russia

I have just read, with considerable pleasure, Mr. Fred Whishaw's "Moscow" (Longmans: 6s.), which is rather under the usual length of the novel, and seems the shorter for its brisk and steady movement. It is a story of the ancient capital in the stirring times of Napoleon's invasion, and although I can not pretend to a knowledge of all Mr. Whishaw's former fiction, I should be surprised to know that he has ever written better than in this graphic and moving tale. It opens in a most dramatic manner with a child betrothal and the capricious sale of a serf, told in a way that immediately grips the reader and is admirably sustained throughout. Apart from the high qualities of the book as a work of fiction, I doubt if it would be possible to better it as a picture of Russian life a century ago.

since it is full of human kindliness, sympathy, high spirits. In two cases the names of the authors are almost all that need be mentioned in order to commend their works to my readers. Mr. W. W. Jacobs, in his latest collection of short stories, "Captains All" (Hodder: 3s. 6d.), gives us another. welcome taste of the quality wherewith he first won all our hearts. There is no denying that Mr. Jacobs's true métier is the short story; after "Dialstone Lane," his last effort at the full novel, the precision with which he achieves the true purpose of humour in almost every story in the present collection, even if he had not written the many little masterpieces in his earlier books, would be proof positive. An Australian professor, in discoursing on humour the other day, said that Mr. Jacobs, Mr. Anstey, and Mr. Barrie, are the "three men who are keeping alive the traditions of English humour." But "there are others." And among them Mr. W. Pett Ridge deserves a prominent

"Susan Clegg" is one of the best examples of genuine humour America has sent to us; quite fit to take her place beside the famous "Mrs. Wiggs." Miss Warner achieves in this little book one of the highest attainments in the power of the literary artist: the creation of a real, humorous character. "As long 's a woman 's single," says Susan, "she's top-dog in the fight, 'n' can say what she pleases, but after she 's married a man she 'll keep still 'f she 's wise, 'n' the wiser she is the stiller she 'll keep, for there's no sense in ever lettin' folks know how badly you 've been taken in." Certainly, with three such books before us, there is no room for complaint that humorous reading is hard to come by.

place. In his latest book, "On Company's Service" (Hodder: 5s.), if this delightful writer is not at his best, as he was, for instance, in "Next Door Neighbours," he is still in a very happy vein. It is a book that makes one wonder why it was not written long ago, as it introduces us to quite a new company of low comedians in the porters, ticketcollectors, and other officials of our railways. Mr. Pett Ridge, by the way, writes from the inside, as I believe he was at one time himself "on company's service" in a clerical capacity. The professor to whom I have just referred is also credited with describing American humour as "buffoonery rather than humour." This, of course, only indicates a limited acquaintance with his subject. If he had read such a book as "Susan Clegg" (Dean: 3s. 6d.), by Miss Anne Warner, he would surely have revised his judgment. I am not acquainted with any other work from the same pen, but I do not hesitate to say that

judged by no more crucial test than that of his past achievement. So regarded, I am afraid that "The Black Spaniel" (Methuen : 6s.) will not rank with his best, although it is a collection of always readable, he is sometimer his best vein. I consider, for instance, that "Halima and Scorpions," which appeared originally in the BYSTANDER, Could hardly be ignored in any survey of the modern short story, as it is a model of that most difficult art, almost worthy of Maupassant himself. Indeed, the best stories in the present volume are those with the desert for background, and to me the least satisfactory of all is the longer tale which gives its title to the book. None the less, "The Black Spaniel" is a book to be read, as it does something to prove the exceptional range of Mr. Hichens' powers. Few living writers have succeeded so well both in the long novel and the short story.

J. A. H.