of the enemy who has become so dear to him. One can hardly call the
tale anything but sentimental, but it is sentiment of a fragrant and
wholesome kind. In the years to come such stories will no doubt multiply
indefinitely, but there will be few more gracefully and gently told.

* * * * *

[Illustration: _Corporal (alluding to knock-kneed man)._ "It's no good;
'e never looks smart. Look at 'im now--the top 'alf of 'is legs standing
to attention and the bottom 'alf standing at ease!"]

* * * * *

Mr. RICHARD PRYCE, true to the fashion of describing the childhood of
heroes at great length, has in _David Penstephen_ (METHUEN)
out-COMPTONED MACKENZIE. _David_ in fact dallied so persistently in the
nursery that I began to wonder if he would ever emerge; but, when he
does get a move on, his story is strangely appealing. His father and
mother, having ideas of their own, had excused themselves from the
formalities of wedlock, and before _Mrs. Penstephen_ broke down under
the strain of this omission _David_ and his sister, _Georgiana_, were
born. Subsequently the parents were married, and had another son. But
before this legitimate addition to the family a boating accident had
deprived the world of two cousins of _Penstephen pere_, and in
consequence he inherited a baronetcy. This change of fortune affected
his views, and as time passed by he became as orthodox a baronet as any
you could wish to find in _Burke_. All of which was galling to _David's_
mother, who loved and was jealous for those children who were born to
suffer for their parents' original morals. The situation required very
delicate handling, and Mr. PRYCE is to be congratulated warmly upon the
manner in which he has developed it. Perhaps a little more humour would
have added salt to the tale, but however that may be we have a careful
study of a boy and an exquisitely sympathetic portrait of a mother. The
latter part of the book is admirable both in what it tells and in what
it merely suggests. More is the pity that Mr. PRYCE has weighed down
_David's_ childish back with too heavy a load of detail. My advice to
you is to skip some of the earlier pages, and so husband your strength
for the better enjoyment of the remainder.

* * * * *

_The Duel_ (ALLEN AND UNWIN) is a study in the GORKY tradition, by
ALEXANDER KUPRIN, of life in an obscure Russian regiment and an
out-