"Tue Buve Poou."—By Valentine; polished by Ward, Locke @ Ca, Those still young enough to be able to afford the luxury of pessimism and those who have made themselves pessimists by too much devotion to the muck-rake will probably snort at this delicate and charming romance. Such things, they will say, do not happen. Yet they do, for those who keep their minds and lives open to the posbility of them. For two people so circumstanced as Terry and shining (if occasionally invisible to others) and life would always proceed in a bright and joyous key (say, © sharp major) even if fortunes did) unexpectedly go up in smoke, and the author has done well to recognize this important psychological fact and to steep his pages in sunshine accordingly. It 'a welcome change from the dreadful studies in neurotics and materialism we are so often given. Terry is perhaps just a little too good to be true, but Sancia is gem. The author seems to have id to himself, "I will show you real English modern girl, the sort you read such dreadful things about in the papers. She shall wear bare legs and smoke cigarettes and drop an occasional swear word. And she shall go about promiscuously with young men and have no illusiont about the things her grandmother ovists here—v.x. nad not even heard of, or was sup~ posed not to have, But she will have a high sense of self respect and know how to make others respect her, and when the crisis comes you will see that she can. love as deeply, act as bravely and. generally be as good and sweet and sound as any girl that ever lived, and more so." All of which is true: and Sancia is a very excellent specimen of her class and admire ably drawn. The dialogue throughout.is particularly fresh and sparke ling and the author has a clever touch in painting scenes so that one sees the Blue Poc) and Walnat Tree Cottage as if one knew them, though with little on the author's them. Altogether a story to be re-
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.