Chapter 11

Morning Post—"The author's champagne overflows with witty sayings too numerous to recite."Pall Mall Gazette—"Mrs. Lane's papers on our social manners and foibles are the most entertaining, the kindest and the truest that have been offered us for a long time.... The book shows an airy philosophy that will render it of service to the social student."

Morning Post—"The author's champagne overflows with witty sayings too numerous to recite."

Pall Mall Gazette—"Mrs. Lane's papers on our social manners and foibles are the most entertaining, the kindest and the truest that have been offered us for a long time.... The book shows an airy philosophy that will render it of service to the social student."

ACCORDING TO MARIA.Crown 8vo. 6/-

Daily Chronicle—"This delightful novel, sparkling with humour.... Maria's world is real.... Mrs. Lane is remarkably true to life in that world.... Maria is priceless, and Mrs. Lane is a satirist whose life may be indefatigably joyous in satiric art. For her eyes harvest the little absurdities, and her hand makes sheaves of them.... Thackeray might have made such sheaves if he had been a woman."

BALTHASAR AND OTHER STORIES.Crown 8vo. 6/-

Translated by Mrs.John Lanefrom the French of Anatole France.

Daily Graphic—"The original charm and distinction of the author's style has survived the difficult ordeal of appearing in another language.... 'The Cure's Mignonette' is as perfect in itself as some little delicate flower."

TALK O' THE TOWN.Crown 8vo. 6/-

⁂ Mrs. John Lane's new book, "Talk of the Town," is on the same lines as "The Champagne Standard," that sparkling and brilliantly witty study of English and American life, and has the delightful and refreshing humour we have a right to expect of the author of "According to Maria," and that power of observation and keen insight into everyday life which made "The Champagne Standard" one of the most successful and one of the most quoted books of the season, both in England and America.

BY STEPHEN LEACOCK.

LITERARY LAPSES.Third Edition. Crown 8vo. 3/6 net

Spectator—"This book is a happy example of the way in which the double life can be lived blamelessly and to the great advantage of the community. The book fairly entitles Mr. Leacock to be considered not only a humourist but a benefactor. The contents should appeal to English readers with the double virtue that attaches to work which is at once new and richly humorous."

NONSENSE NOVELS.Third Edition. Crown 8vo. 3/6 net

Pall Mall Gazette—"He certainly bids fair to rival the immortal Lewis Carroll."Punch—"Delightful spontaneity. There is genuine gold here on every page."Daily Graphic—"'Guido, the Gimlet of Ghent' set us in a roar. His last tale, 'The Asbestos Man,' is the best."

Pall Mall Gazette—"He certainly bids fair to rival the immortal Lewis Carroll."

Punch—"Delightful spontaneity. There is genuine gold here on every page."

Daily Graphic—"'Guido, the Gimlet of Ghent' set us in a roar. His last tale, 'The Asbestos Man,' is the best."

SUNSHINE SKETCHES OF A LITTLE TOWN.Fourth Edition Crown 8vo. 3/6 net

Evening Standard—"We have never laughed more often."Canada—"A whole storehouse of sunshine. Of the same brand as 'Literary Lapses' and 'Nonsense Novels.' It is the surest recipe for enjoying a happy holiday."Daily Telegraph—"Irresistibly comical. Mr. Leacock strikes us as a sort of Americanised W. W. Jacobs. Like the English humorist, the Canadian one has a delightfully fresh and amusing way of putting things."Times—"His real hard work—for which no conceivable emolument would be a fitting reward—is distilling sunshine. This new book is full of it—the sunshine of humour, the thin keen sunshine of irony, the mellow evening sunshine of sentiment."

Evening Standard—"We have never laughed more often."

Canada—"A whole storehouse of sunshine. Of the same brand as 'Literary Lapses' and 'Nonsense Novels.' It is the surest recipe for enjoying a happy holiday."

Daily Telegraph—"Irresistibly comical. Mr. Leacock strikes us as a sort of Americanised W. W. Jacobs. Like the English humorist, the Canadian one has a delightfully fresh and amusing way of putting things."

Times—"His real hard work—for which no conceivable emolument would be a fitting reward—is distilling sunshine. This new book is full of it—the sunshine of humour, the thin keen sunshine of irony, the mellow evening sunshine of sentiment."

BY W. J. LOCKE.

STELLA MARIS.A Novel. Crown 8vo. 6/-

With 8 Illustrations by Frank Wiles.

⁂ Mr. Locke's astonishing fertility of invention has never yet been seen to as great advantage as in this story. It has all the picturesque bravery of the "Beloved Vagabond," all the tender sentiment of "Marcus Ordeyne," all the quixotic spirit of "Clementina Wing." And yet it is like none of these. Infinitely tender, infinitely impressive, is the story of Stella Maris, the wonder child, who has never moved from her couch, who receives her impressions of the outside world from her gentle spirit and the gold-clad tales of her loving friends and the secrets of the seagulls that flit so near her window. And then Stella, grown to a woman, recovers; to take her place, not in the world of beauty she had pictured from the stillness of her couch, but the world of men and women.From the first page the reader falls under a spell. For all its wistful delicacy of texture Mr. Locke's humanity, broad and strong, vibrates with terror just as it soothes with its sense of peace. This is Mr. Locke's finest achievement.

From the first page the reader falls under a spell. For all its wistful delicacy of texture Mr. Locke's humanity, broad and strong, vibrates with terror just as it soothes with its sense of peace. This is Mr. Locke's finest achievement.

THE JOYOUS ADVENTURES OF ARISTIDE PUJOL.A Novel Crown 8vo. 6/-

With Illustrations by Alec Bull.

Daily Telegraph—"In 'Aristide Pujol' Mr. W. J. Locke has given life to one of the most fascinating creatures in modern fiction."Morning Post—"We do not know when Mr. Locke was more happily inspired."

Daily Telegraph—"In 'Aristide Pujol' Mr. W. J. Locke has given life to one of the most fascinating creatures in modern fiction."

Morning Post—"We do not know when Mr. Locke was more happily inspired."

[A]DERELICTS.Crown 8vo. 6/-

Daily Chronicle—" Mr. Locke tells his story in a very true, very moving, and very noble book. If anyone can read the last chapter with dry eyes we shall be surprised. 'Derelicts' is an impressive and important book."Morning Post—"Mr. Locke's clever novel. One of the most effective stories that have appeared for some time past."

Morning Post—"Mr. Locke's clever novel. One of the most effective stories that have appeared for some time past."

*IDOLS.Crown 8vo. 6/-

Daily Telegraph—"A brilliantly written and eminently readable book."Daily Mail—"One of the most distinguished novels of the present book season."Punch—"The Baron strongly recommends Mr. W. J. Locke's 'Idols' to all novel readers. It is well written. No time is wasted in superfluous descriptions; there is no fine writing for fine writing's sake, but the story will absorb the reader.... It is a novel that, once taken up, cannot willingly be put down until finished."

Daily Telegraph—"A brilliantly written and eminently readable book."

Daily Mail—"One of the most distinguished novels of the present book season."

Punch—"The Baron strongly recommends Mr. W. J. Locke's 'Idols' to all novel readers. It is well written. No time is wasted in superfluous descriptions; there is no fine writing for fine writing's sake, but the story will absorb the reader.... It is a novel that, once taken up, cannot willingly be put down until finished."

*A STUDY IN SHADOWS.Crown 8vo. 6/-

Daily Chronicle—"Mr. Locke has achieved a distinct success in this novel. He has struck many emotional chords and struck them all with a firm sure hand."Athenæum—"The character-drawing is distinctly good. All the personages stand well defined with strongly marked individualities."

Daily Chronicle—"Mr. Locke has achieved a distinct success in this novel. He has struck many emotional chords and struck them all with a firm sure hand."

Athenæum—"The character-drawing is distinctly good. All the personages stand well defined with strongly marked individualities."

*THE WHITE DOVE.Crown 8vo. 6/-

Times—"An interesting story, full of dramatic scenes."Morning Post—"An interesting story. The characters are strongly conceived and vividly presented, and the dramatic moments are powerfully realised."

Times—"An interesting story, full of dramatic scenes."

Morning Post—"An interesting story. The characters are strongly conceived and vividly presented, and the dramatic moments are powerfully realised."

*THE USURPER.Crown 8vo. 6/-

World—"This quite uncommon novel."Spectator—"Character and plot are most ingeniously wrought, and the conclusion, when it comes, is fully satisfying."Times—"An impressive romance."

World—"This quite uncommon novel."

Spectator—"Character and plot are most ingeniously wrought, and the conclusion, when it comes, is fully satisfying."

Times—"An impressive romance."

THE DEMAGOGUE AND LADY PHAYRE.Cr. 8vo. 3/6

*AT THE GATE OF SAMARIA.Crown 8vo. 6/-

Daily Chronicle—"The heroine of this clever story attracts our interest.... She is a clever and subtle study.... We congratulate Mr. Locke."Morning Post—"A cleverly written tale ... the author's pictures of Bohemian life are bright and graphic."

Daily Chronicle—"The heroine of this clever story attracts our interest.... She is a clever and subtle study.... We congratulate Mr. Locke."

Morning Post—"A cleverly written tale ... the author's pictures of Bohemian life are bright and graphic."

*WHERE LOVE IS.Crown 8vo. 6/-

Mr.James Douglas, inStar—"I do not often praise a book with this exultant gusto, but it gave me so much spiritual stimulus and moral pleasure that I feel bound to snatch the additional delight of commending it to those readers who long for a novel that is a piece of literature as well as a piece of life."Standard—"A brilliant piece of work."Times—"The author has the true gift; his people are alive."

Standard—"A brilliant piece of work."

Times—"The author has the true gift; his people are alive."

*THE MORALS OF MARCUS ORDEYNE.Cr. 8vo. 6/-

Mr.C. K. Shorter, inSphere—"A book which has just delighted my heart."Truth—"Mr. Locke's new novel is one of the best artistic pieces of work I have met with for many a day."Daily Chronicle—"Mr. Locke succeeds, indeed, in every crisis of this most original story."

Mr.C. K. Shorter, inSphere—"A book which has just delighted my heart."

Truth—"Mr. Locke's new novel is one of the best artistic pieces of work I have met with for many a day."

Daily Chronicle—"Mr. Locke succeeds, indeed, in every crisis of this most original story."

THE BELOVED VAGABOND.Crown 8vo. 6/-

Truth—"Certainly it is the most brilliant piece of work Mr. Locke has done."Evening Standard—"Mr. Locke can hardly fail to write beautifully. He has not failed now."

Truth—"Certainly it is the most brilliant piece of work Mr. Locke has done."

Evening Standard—"Mr. Locke can hardly fail to write beautifully. He has not failed now."

SIMON THE JESTER.Crown 8vo. 6/-

⁂ The central figure of Mr. Locke's new novel is one Simon de Gex, M.P., who having met life with a gay and serene philosophy is suddenly called upon to face Death. This he does gallantly and jests at Death until he discovers to his confusion that Destiny is a greater jester than he. Eventually by surrendering his claims he attains salvation. The heroine is Lola Brandt, an ex-trainer of animals, and an important figure in the story is a dwarf, Professor Anastasius Papadopoulas, who has a troupe of performing cats. The scene of the novel is laid in London and Algiers.

THE GLORY OF CLEMENTINA WING.Crown 8vo. 6/-

Observer—"Mr. Locke's best.... Clementina Wing and Dr. Quixtue are the two most adorable characters that Mr. Locke has ever brought together in holy wedlock. The phrases are Locke's most debonairly witty."

* Also bound in Cloth with Illustrated paper wrapper 1/- net.

BY LAURA BOGUE LUFFMAN.

A QUESTION OF LATITUDE.Crown 8vo. 6/-

⁂ The author of "A Question of Latitude" takes an English girl from the comfortable stateliness of a country house in the Old Country, and places her in a rough and ready environment in Australia. The girl finds her standard of values undergoing a change. She learns to distinguish between English snobbery and Colonial simplicity and manliness, she also learns how to wash up dishes, and that Australia is not all kangaroos and giant cricketers. The atmosphere of the story is convincing, and there are many vivid pictures of Melbourne life. The book depicts Australia as it really is, its strength and its weakness, its refinement and its vulgarity.

BY A. NEIL LYONS.

ARTHUR'S.Crown 8vo. 6/-

Times—"Not only a very entertaining and amusing work, but a very kindly and tolerant work also. Incidentally the work is a mirror of a phase of the low London life of to-day as true as certain of Hogarth's transcripts in the eighteenth century, and far more tender."Punch—"Mr. Neil Lyons seems to get right at the heart of things, and I confess to a real admiration for this philosopher of the coffee-stall."

Punch—"Mr. Neil Lyons seems to get right at the heart of things, and I confess to a real admiration for this philosopher of the coffee-stall."

SIXPENNY PIECES.Crown 8vo. 6/-

Pall Mall Gazette—"It is pure, fast, sheer life, salted with a sense of humour."Evening Standard—"'Sixpenny Pieces' is as good as 'Arthur's,' and that is saying a great deal. A book full of laughter and tears and hits innumerable that one feels impelled to read aloud. 'Sixpenny Pieces' would be very hard indeed to beat."

Pall Mall Gazette—"It is pure, fast, sheer life, salted with a sense of humour."

Evening Standard—"'Sixpenny Pieces' is as good as 'Arthur's,' and that is saying a great deal. A book full of laughter and tears and hits innumerable that one feels impelled to read aloud. 'Sixpenny Pieces' would be very hard indeed to beat."

COTTAGE PIE.Crown 8vo. 6/-

⁂ Mr. Lyons' former books dealt with East London characters. Now he draws the varying types of a small country community. The humour of the whole is enforced, inimitable, and there is the underlying note of tragedy never wholly absent from the lives of the poorer classes.W. J. Locke, inOutlook—" ... That book of beauty, truth, and artistry."Edwin Pugh, inOutlook—"I have never missed an opportunity to express my admiration for his inimitable talent."

W. J. Locke, inOutlook—" ... That book of beauty, truth, and artistry."

Edwin Pugh, inOutlook—"I have never missed an opportunity to express my admiration for his inimitable talent."

CLARA; SOME CHAPTERS IN THE LIFE OF A HUSSY.Crown 8vo. 6/-

Manchester Guardian—"Mr. Lyons writes about life in the slums with a great deal of penetrative sympathy for human nature as it shows itself."Daily Graphic—"Clara is a type, the real thing, and we know of no-one else who could have created her."

Manchester Guardian—"Mr. Lyons writes about life in the slums with a great deal of penetrative sympathy for human nature as it shows itself."

Daily Graphic—"Clara is a type, the real thing, and we know of no-one else who could have created her."

BY ALLAN McAULAY.

THE EAGLE'S NEST.Crown 8vo. 6/-

Athenæum—"We should describe the book as a brillianttour de force.... The story is spirited and interesting. The love interest also is excellent and pathetic."Spectator—"This is one of those illuminating and stimulating romances which set people reading history."

Athenæum—"We should describe the book as a brillianttour de force.... The story is spirited and interesting. The love interest also is excellent and pathetic."

Spectator—"This is one of those illuminating and stimulating romances which set people reading history."

BEGGARS AND SORNERS.Crown 8vo. 6/-

⁂ "Beggars and Sorners" is a novel which deals with what may be called the back-wash of the "Forty Five." It commemorates thedébâcleof a great romance, and in describing the lives, the struggles, the make-shifts, the intrigues and the crimes of a small circle of Jacobite exiles in Holland between the years 1745 and 1750, it strives to show the pathos of history while revealing its seamy side. The characters are imaginary (with one important exception); they have imaginary names and commit imaginary actions, for the story is not confined to, but only founded on, fact. If some readers of Jacobite history find among their number some old friends with new faces, this need not detract from the interest of others to whom all the characters are new—actors in a drama drawn from the novelist's fancy. To English readers it may have to be explained what the word Sorner means—but the story makes this sufficiently plain. The novel is of a lighter character than those previously written by this author, and it is not without sensational elements. In spite of adverse circumstances, grim characters, and all the sorrows of a lost cause, it contrives to end happily. The scene is laid in Amsterdam.

BY KARIN MICHAELIS.

THE DANGEROUS AGE.Crown 8vo. 3/6 net

Translated from the Danish.

This book has been:—(1) Sold to the extent of 100 editions in 6 months in Germany.(2) Translated into 11 languages.(3) Translated into French by the greatMarcel Prevost, who says in his introduction to the English Edition— "It is the feminine soul, and the femininal soul of all that is revealed in these extraordinary documents. Here indeed is a strange book."

This book has been:—

(1) Sold to the extent of 100 editions in 6 months in Germany.

(2) Translated into 11 languages.

(3) Translated into French by the greatMarcel Prevost, who says in his introduction to the English Edition— "It is the feminine soul, and the femininal soul of all that is revealed in these extraordinary documents. Here indeed is a strange book."

ELSIE LINDTNER.A Sequel. Crown 8vo. 3/6 net

THE GOVERNOR.Crown 8vo. 3/6 net

BY IRENE MILLER.

SEKHET.Crown 8vo. 6/-

⁂ Sekhet deals with that topic of unwearying interest to readers of romance—the adventures and struggles of an exquisitely lovely woman upon whom the hand of Fate is laid heavily. From the days of her beautiful girlhood when her Guardian himself proves her tempter, Evarne has good reason to believe herself one of the victims of "Sekhet," the ancient Egyptian Goddess of Love and Cruelty. Even though the main theme of this story is the tragic outcome of a too passionate love, portions of Evarne's experiences, such as those with the bogus Theatrical manager, are full of humour, and throughout there is a relieving lightness of touch in the writing. The book grows in interest as it proceeds, and the final portion—a long duel between Evarne and the evil genius of her life—is dramatic in the extreme. The result remains uncertain till the last page or two, and though decidedly ghastly is entirely original and unforeseen.

BY HECTOR H. MUNRO (Saki)

THE UNBEARABLE BASSINGTON.A Novel. Crown 8vo. 6/-

⁂ The keynote of this book is struck in an early chapter where one of the school-masters at the school "Comus Bassington" is sent to, remarks, "There are just a few, and Bassington is one of them, who are Nature's highly-finished products. They are in the schoolboy stage, and we who are supposed to be moulding raw material are quite helpless when we come in contact with them." "Comus Bassington" has no father, and a mother of a very uncommon type. After leaving school he runs loose for a time in London, bear-led a little by a clever young M.P., falls in love with the most wonderful match of the season, gets deeply in debt, and even when at the absolute end of his tether fascinates the reader with his store of spontaneous gaiety.Observer—"ANYONE COULD DINE out for a year and pass for a wit after reading this book if only the hosts and the guests would promise not to read it too. This is one of the wittiest books, not only of the year, but of the decade. It is not even only witty; it has a deepening humanity towards the end that comes to a climax of really disturbing pathos. It will be a dull public that can pass over such a book as this."

Observer—"ANYONE COULD DINE out for a year and pass for a wit after reading this book if only the hosts and the guests would promise not to read it too. This is one of the wittiest books, not only of the year, but of the decade. It is not even only witty; it has a deepening humanity towards the end that comes to a climax of really disturbing pathos. It will be a dull public that can pass over such a book as this."

THE CHRONICLES OF CLOVIS.Crown 8vo. 6/-

English Review—"A collection of short stories printed from various newspapers and magazines. Every one was worth reprinting, and some, notably 'The Great Weep' and 'Sredni Vashtar,' are very clever indeed. Mr. Monro conceals pills of cleverness in a sugar-coating of wit—real wit—and the result is a chuckle provoking book, except on the occasions when its author was touched to grim realism and wrote his mood."

BY LOUIS N. PARKER.

POMANDER WALK.Crown 8vo. 6/-

Author of "Rosemary," etc. With numerous Illustrations by J. Scott Williams.

⁂ Novelised by the author of the delightful play of the same name, which has met with so much success both in England and the United States. A picture of one of the quaint out-of-the-way corners of London of the olden times. The volume contains a tinted frontispiece and title page, and numerous other charming illustrations.Daily Telegraph—"Mr. Parker has turned a delightful comedy into a still more delightful story ... in every way a charming, happy romance, beautifully told and irresistibly sentimental."

Daily Telegraph—"Mr. Parker has turned a delightful comedy into a still more delightful story ... in every way a charming, happy romance, beautifully told and irresistibly sentimental."

BY JOHN PARKINSON.

OTHER LAWS.Crown 8vo. 6/-

⁂ This book is distinctly the outcome of the latest "intellectual" movement in novel-writing. The hero, Hawkins, is an African explorer. During a holiday in England he falls in love with and captivates Caroline Blackwood, a woman of strong personality. Circumstances prevent him from entering upon a formal engagement, and he departs again for Africa, without proposing marriage. Caroline and Hawkins correspond fitfully for some time; but then a startling combination of events causes Hawkins to penetrate further and further into the interior; a native village is burned, and a report, based apparently upon fact, is circulated of his death. Not until seven months have elapsed is he able to return to England. He finds Caroline married to a man who has found her money useful. Here the story, strong and moving throughout, moves steadily to the close, describing delicately and analytically the soul conflict of a man and a woman, sundered and separate, with a yearning for each other's love.

BY F. INGLIS POWELL.

THE SNAKE.Crown 8vo. 6/-

⁂ For countless generations the soul of Peasant India has been steeped in weird, fantastic superstitions, some grotesque, some loathsome, all strangely fascinating. Though the main theme of this story is the unhappy love of a beautiful, evil woman, and the brutal frankness with which she writes of her uncontrolled passions in her diary, yet the whole tale hinges on some of the most gruesome superstitions of the East. This book should appeal to all who take an interest in the strange beliefs—not of the educated classes—but of the simple-minded and ignorant peasants of Behar.

BY F. J. RANDALL.

LOVE AND THE IRONMONGER.Crown 8vo. 6/-

Daily Telegraph—"Since the gay days when Mr. F. Anstey was writing his inimitable series of humourous novels, we can recall no book of purely farcical imagination so full of excellent entertainment as this first effort of Mr. F. J. Randall. 'Love and the Ironmonger' is certain to be a success."Times—"As diverting a comedy of errors as the reader is likely to meet with for a considerable time."Mr.Clement Shorter, inThe Sphere—"I thank the author for a delightful hour's amusement."

Times—"As diverting a comedy of errors as the reader is likely to meet with for a considerable time."

Mr.Clement Shorter, inThe Sphere—"I thank the author for a delightful hour's amusement."

THE BERMONDSEY TWIN.Crown 8vo. 6/-

⁂ A humourous story of the reappearance of a twin brother, who is supposed to be dead. Prosperous, respected, and well satisfied with himself, a suburban tradesman is contemplating matrimony and the realisation of his ambitions, when the twin brother appears. He is thrown into a state of panic, for not only is his fortune thus reduced by half and his marriage prospects endangered, but the twin is to all appearance a disreputable character, whose existence threatens to mar the tradesman's respectability. The good man's attempts to hide this undesirable brother make amusing reading, and the pranks of the unwelcome twin serve to complicate matters, for the brothers are so much alike as to be easily mistaken one for the other. The new arrival is really a man of integrity, his depravity being assumed as a joke. Having played the farce out he is about to "confess," when the tables are turned upon him by accident, and he is forced to pay heavily for his fun in a series of humiliating adventures.

BY HUGH DE SÉLINCOURT.

A FAIR HOUSE.Crown 8vo. 6/-

Author of "A Boy's Marriage," "The Way Things Happen," "The Strongest Plume."

⁂ The outstanding idea of Mr. Hugh de Sélincourt's new novel is the possibility of absolute love and confidence between father and daughter. It is the main thread of the story and all the incidents are subordinated to it. The book falls naturally into three sections. The first opens with the birth of the daughter and the death of the mother, the father's utter despair, until an idea comes to him, to make the child his masterpiece and to see how much one human being can mean to another. The second deals with the growth of the child from five to fifteen. In the third, the girl becomes a woman. Her first experience of love is unhappy and threatens to destroy the confidence between father and daughter. But she is enabled to throw herself heart and soul into stage-work, and in the excitement of work she finds herself again. And the end of the book leaves her with the knowledge that one love does not necessarily displace another, and that a second, happier love has only strengthened the bond between her father and herself.

BY ESSEX SMITH.

WIND ON THE HEATH.Crown 8vo. 6/-

⁂ No paragraph or descriptive note can give an idea of Miss Essex Smith's story. It depends upon style, psychology, woodland atmosphere, and more than anything else upon originality of outlook. It will make a direct appeal to that public that has a taste for the unusual. There is underlying it a tone of passion, the passion of a fantastic Richard Jefferies.

BY GEORGE STEVENSON.

TOPHAM'S FOLLY.A Novel. Crown 8vo. 6/-

⁂ This novel has the curious charm of a tale that might be told to you by your own mother or grandmother, a homeliness and simplicity which is never overweighted by the writer's very considerable skill in presenting his story. The scene is laid in a small town in the West Riding of Yorkshire—fortunately there is practically no dialect. What the narrator presents to us is supposed to be the incidents of the lives of various members of the Topham family and their kinsfolk seen largely through the eyes of Mary Ann. Mary Ann's mother was a woman of good family, who in her early teens eloped with her father's groom, and although in consequence of her act she endured many hardships, she never repented it. When Mary Ann was just growing into young womanhood she discovered an advertisement in a newspaper enquiring for the heirs of Thomas Morton Bagster, and pointed it out to her mother. They consult Mr. Topham, the lawyer, who undertakes to make enquiries for them. Topham is at this time very short of cash, and cannot complete a grand new house for himself and his family, over whom he rules as a petty domestic tyrant. From now on the financial fortunes of the Tophams prosper, and the house, which has begun to be known as "Topham's Folly," is completed and occupied. And in this tempestuous household lives Mary Ann as a humble servant—a kind of angel in a print dress. When the youngest boy is about twenty he suddenly discovers by the purest chance the whole fraud upon which the family fortunes have been erected. There are innumerable side issues, every one of them fascinatingly human and delightfully told.

BY HERMANN SUDERMANN.

THE SONG OF SONGS(Das Hohe Lied). Crown 8vo. 6/-

A new Translation by Beatrice Marshall.

⁂ The first English translation of this work, published under the title of "The Song of Songs," proved to be too American for the taste of the British public, and was eventually dropped. But it was felt that the work was too great an one not to be represented in the English language, and accordingly this entirely new translation has been made, which it is hoped will fairly represent the wonderful original without unduly offending the susceptibilities of the British public. In this colossal novel, Sudermann has made a searching and masterly study of feminine frailty. The character and career of Lily Czepanck are depicted with such pitiless power and unerring psychological insight, that the portrait would be almost intolerable in its realism, if it were not for its touches of humour and tenderness. In these pages too may be found some of Sudermann's most characteristic and charming passages descriptive of country life, while his pictures of Berlin Society in all its phases, the glimpses he gives us into what goes on beneath the tinsel, spick and span surface of the great modern capital are drawn with Tolstoyan vigour and colour.

THE INDIAN LILYand other Stories. Crown 8vo. 6/-

Translated by Ludwig Lewisohn, M.A.

⁂ A series of characteristic stories by the great German Master which exhibit his art in every phase. Sudermann is chiefly known in this country as a writer of novels and of plays, but this volume will place him in a new light for English readers—as a writer of short stories of the first rank. In fact he may with justice be termed the German Maupassant.

BY SIR FRANK SWETTENHAM.

ALSO AND PERHAPS.Crown 8vo. 6/-

Author of "Unaddressed Letters," "British Malaya," etc.

Punch—"'Dodo Island' contains a long quotation of such genuine humour that to have rescued it is an achievement in itself. Although in this sketch Sir Frank apologises almost humbly for mentioning history in 'Tamarin' and 'Ile de la Passe,' he becomes an historian unashamed, and a most attractive one. 'The Kris Incarnadine' provided me with a more grizzly sensation than I have been able to conjure up for many years, and 'Disbelief in the Unseen' ought to be read aloud daily to those obnoxious people who cannot bring themselves to believe in anything that does not take place within a stone's throw of their parish pump."

BY MARCELLE TINAYRE.

THE SHADOW OF LOVE.Crown 8vo. 6/-

Translated from the French by A. R. Allinson, M.A.

⁂ Of the newer French novelists Marcelle Tinayre is perhaps the best known. Her work has been crowned by the French Academy, and she possesses a very large public in Europe and in America. The story deals with a girl's love and a heroic sacrifice dictated by love. "The Shadow of Love" is a book of extraordinary power, uncompromising in its delineation of certain hard, some might say repulsive facts of life, yet instinct all through with an exquisitely tender and beautiful passion of human interest and human sympathy.

BY GEORGE VANE.

THE LIFTED LATCH: A Novel. Crown 8vo. 6/-

⁂ "The Lifted Latch" is a story of strong situations. The hero is the son of an Italian attaché and a girl of whose frailty he takes advantage. The mother decides to hide her shame by handing the child over to a foster-mother together with a sum of money for its maintenance. When the boy grows up he becomes by a curious sequence of events and circumstances reunited to his parents, and a series of plots and counterplots follow. The scene is set principally in diplomatic circles in Rome.

THE LOVE DREAM.Crown 8vo. 6/-

⁂ In this book we meet some Sicilians of old lineage and considerable wealth settled in a gloomy manor in England. The family consists of an aged and partly demented Princess, obsessed by a monomania for revenge, her grandson, an attaché of the Italian Embassy to the Court of St. James, and his half sister, a fascinating, winning, wayward and fickle creature. This girl captures the heart of Lord Drury—whose father murdered the Principe Baldassare di Monreale—son of the old Princess. The contrast between these Southerners and their English neighbours is strongly accentuated. Don Siorza and his half sister Donna Giacinta are no mere puppets with Italian names; they give the reader the impression of being people the author has met and drawn from life. The tragedy in which they are involved strikes one as inevitable. Poor Lord Drury, in his utter inexperience, has taken a beautiful chimæra for reality and starts in the pursuit of happiness when it was all the time within his grasp. The love-interest never flags to the last page when the hero's troubles come to an end. The glimpses of diplomatic circles in London are obviously not written by an outsider.Truth—"Well constructed ... thrilling scenes and situations fit naturally and consequently into the framework of its elaborate plot."

Truth—"Well constructed ... thrilling scenes and situations fit naturally and consequently into the framework of its elaborate plot."

BY CLARA VIEBIG.

THE SON OF HIS MOTHER.Crown 8vo. 6/-Translated by H. Raahauge.

⁂ When Paul and Kate Schlieben leave their home in Berlin and start on their wanderings, they have no idea of how momentous an occasion this will be for them—and another. A devoted couple, there is one thing wanting to complete their happiness, and Kate at least can never forget that they are childless. Afterwards, when they have adopted a son, she learns too late that all the care that has been expended on him is a poor substitute for the ties that bind mother and child, and is forced to acknowledge that the son of her adoption is and always must be the son of his mother.

ABSOLUTION.Crown 8vo. 6/-

Times—"There is considerable strength in 'Absolution.' ... As a realistic study the story has much merit."Daily Telegraph—"The tale is powerfully told ... the tale will prove absorbing with its minute characterisation and real passion."

Times—"There is considerable strength in 'Absolution.' ... As a realistic study the story has much merit."

Daily Telegraph—"The tale is powerfully told ... the tale will prove absorbing with its minute characterisation and real passion."

OUR DAILY BREAD.Crown 8vo. 6/-

Athenæum—"The story is not only of great human interest, but also extremely valuable as a study of the conditions in which a large section of the poorer classes and small tradespeople of German cities spend their lives. Clara Viebig manipulates her material with extraordinary vigour.... Her characters are alive."

BY H. B. MARRIOTT WATSON.

THE TOMBOY AND OTHERS.Crown 8vo. 3/6 net

Author of "Galloping Dick."

BY H. G. WELLS.

THE NEW MACHIAVELLI.Crown 8vo. 6/-

Also Bound in Cloth with Illustrated paper wrapper 1/- net.

⁂The New Machiavelliis the longest, most carefully and elaborately constructed and most ambitious novel that Mr. Wells has yet written. It combines much of the breadth and variety ofTono-Bungaywith that concentrated unity of effect which makesLove and Mr. Lewisham, artistically, his most satisfactory work. It has the autobiographical form which he has already used so effectively inTono-Bungay, but this time the hero who surveys and experiences the vicissitudes of our modern world is not a commercial adventurer but a Trinity man, who directs very great ambitions and abilities to political ends, who is wrecked in mid-career and driven into exile by a passionate love adventure. From his retirement in Italy he reviews and discusses his broken life. The story he tells opens amidst suburban surroundings, and the first book gives a series of vivid impressions and criticisms of English public school and university life. Thence, after an episode in Staffordshire, it passes to the world of Westminster and the country house. The narrator recounts his relations with the varying groups and the forces in contemporary parliamentary life and political journalism in London, and the growth and changes in his own opinion until the emotions of his passionate entanglement sweep the story away to its sombre and touching conclusion. In addition to the full-length portraits of Margaret, the neglected wife—perhaps the finest of Mr. Wells's feminine creations—Isabel Rivers, and Remington, there are scores of sharply differentiated characters, sketched and vignetted: Remington the father, Britten, the intriguing Baileys, the members of the Pentagram Circle, Codger the typical don, and Mr. Evesham the Conservative leader. It is a book to read and read again, and an enduring picture of contemporary English conditions.

BY MARGARET WESTRUP.

ELIZABETH'S CHILDREN.Crown 8vo. 6/-

Daily Telegraph—"The book is charming ... the author ... has a delicate fanciful touch, a charming imagination ... skilfully suggests character and moods ... is bright and witty, and writes about children with exquisite knowledge and sympathy."

HELEN ALLISTON.Crown 8vo. 6/-

Pall Mall Gazette—"The book has vivacity, fluency, colour, more than a touch of poetry and passion.... We shall look forward with interest to future work by the author of 'Helen Alliston.'"

THE YOUNG O'BRIENS.Crown 8vo. 6/-

Saturday Review—"Delightful ... the author treats them (the Young O'Briens) very skilfully."

PHYLLIS IN MIDDLEWYCH.Crown 8vo. 6/-

⁂ It is some years since "Elizabeth's Children" was published and immediately ran through edition after edition. In her new book the author shows that same sympathetic touch and sure knowledge of the real child that stamped "Elizabeth's Children" as a live book. The doings and misdoings of Phyllis are told with understanding and with numerous and deft touches the little idiosyncracies of the Middlewichites are admirably hit off.

ELIZABETH IN RETREAT.Crown 8vo. 6/-

Ladies' Field—"Margaret Westrup has never written a more interesting novel than 'Elizabeth in Retreat.'"Punch—"All the superstition having long ago been used up and squandered among the undeserving, it is difficult to hit upon such an expression of praise as the reading public will take without a pinch of salt. But the character of Evelyn Winkfield is a stroke of genius. Believe me or not as you please, but this is the best novel of the year that has come my way."

Ladies' Field—"Margaret Westrup has never written a more interesting novel than 'Elizabeth in Retreat.'"

Punch—"All the superstition having long ago been used up and squandered among the undeserving, it is difficult to hit upon such an expression of praise as the reading public will take without a pinch of salt. But the character of Evelyn Winkfield is a stroke of genius. Believe me or not as you please, but this is the best novel of the year that has come my way."

BY EDITH WHERRY.

THE RED LANTERN: Being the Story of the Goddess of the Red Light. Crown 8vo. 6/-

⁂ The most exciting novel of recent years. It deals with the Rebellion in China and is of extraordinary anticipation. Sun Yat Sen is vividly depicted under the name of Sam Wang in Miss Edith Wherry's startling novel.

BY IDA WILD.

ZOË THE DANCER.Crown 8vo. 6/-

⁂ The scene of the story is laid in Brussels, where Zoë, little more than a child, shows her remarkable aptitude for dancing. Her wonderful yellow hair secures for her a position in a hairdresser's window to the constant delight of the good citizens. Chance leads to her adoption of dancing as a profession. The book is full of comedy and tragedy, and yet it is the charm and originality of the telling which holds the reader throughout.

BY M. P. WILLCOCKS.

WIDDICOMBE.Crown 8vo. 6/-

Evening Standard—"Wonderfully alive and pulsating with a curious fervour which brings round the reader the very atmosphere which the author describes.... A fine, rather unusual novel.... There are some striking studies of women."Truth—"A first novel of most unusual promise."Queen—"An unusually clever book."

Truth—"A first novel of most unusual promise."

Queen—"An unusually clever book."

THE WINGLESS VICTORY.Crown 8vo. 6/-

Times—"Such books are worth keeping on the shelves even by the classics, for they are painted in colours that do not fade."Daily Telegraph—"A novel of such power as should win for its author a position in the front rank of contemporary writers of fiction."

Times—"Such books are worth keeping on the shelves even by the classics, for they are painted in colours that do not fade."

Daily Telegraph—"A novel of such power as should win for its author a position in the front rank of contemporary writers of fiction."

A MAN OF GENIUS.Crown 8vo. 6/-

Daily Telegraph—"'Widdicombe' was good, and 'The Wingless Victory' was perhaps better, but in 'A Man of Genius' the author has given us something that should assure her place in the front rank of our living novelists. In this latest novel there is so much of character, so much of incident, and to its writing has gone so much insight and observation that it is not easy to praise it without seeming exaggeration."Punch—"There is no excuse for not reading 'A Man of Genius' and making a short stay in the 'seventh Devon of delight.'"Globe—"Exquisite."

Punch—"There is no excuse for not reading 'A Man of Genius' and making a short stay in the 'seventh Devon of delight.'"

Globe—"Exquisite."

THE WAY UP.Crown 8vo. 6/-

Daily Mail—"It is admirably done.... Evidently worth reading, full of extremely clever characterisation, of sharp and picturesque contrasts in personality ... a merciless exhibition of almost all the follies known as modern thought."

WINGS OF DESIRE.Crown 8vo. 6/-

Daily Telegraph—"Excellent as are her earlier novels, Miss Willcocks has given us nothing else so good, so full at once of character, thought, and observation."Observer—"All these are haunting people, memorable and uncommon."

Daily Telegraph—"Excellent as are her earlier novels, Miss Willcocks has given us nothing else so good, so full at once of character, thought, and observation."

Observer—"All these are haunting people, memorable and uncommon."

BY F. E. MILLS YOUNG.

MYLES CALTHORPE, I.D.B.A Novel. Crown 8vo. 6/-

⁂ Miss Young again takes South Africa as a background for her rigorous work. Myles Calthorpe is a man of original will power and somewhat perverted strength of character, which is apt to land him into quixotic difficulties. To him is applied the title of I.D.B., the South African abbreviation for Illicit Diamond Buyer. Nevertheless he is not guilty of the crime, but is trapped unconsciously into acting as go-between. Caught red-handed by the Government authorities, he is sentenced to three years' imprisonment because he will not purchase his acquittal by throwing a smirch on the good name of the brother of the lady who has won his heart. After serving his unjust sentence Myles is face to face with ruin, and how eventually he emerges from the highways and byeways of disgrace clean-hearted and with his hands stained by nothing more shameful than hard work, forms the subject of a picturesque and life-pulsating romance.

GRIT LAWLESS.A Novel. Crown 8vo. 6/-

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