would have lost by any words that could conceivably
have been added to it;" she is certain that "Charles Wrackham required
the precise amount of room that has been given him." I dare say she is
right, but I wish she could have left someone else to say so. For myself
I should have thought it obvious that a story dealing with character and
its development by circumstance demanded more room in which to spread
itself than one that dealt with a situation, dramatic or psychologic;
yet "The Wrackham Memoirs," which, whatever its complexity, belongs to
the latter type, takes up very nearly as much space as "The Judgment of
Eve," which belongs to the former. Of course no critic of even moderate
intelligence would propose to fix a limit of length for every type of
story, but it may safely be said that, if you take Maupassant for a
standard, the best short stories have concerned themselves with
situation rather than with character; and, though I have not had the
privilege of reading the criticisms which are the subject of Miss
Sinclair's rebuke, I can easily believe that they were governed by this
elementary reflection. It must have occurred to Miss Sinclair herself,
even if she did not find it convenient to take cognisance of it in her
reply. Perhaps she will have something to say on this subject in some
future edition of her very interesting book, and I should indeed be
flattered if she would consent, in a brief phrase or two, to review my
review of her review of her reviewers.

* * * * *

[Illustration: The new Cash Register as used at the Royal College of
Music for calculating the value per minute of voices in the vocal
training department.]

* * * * *

Good costume novels are not so common nowadays that I can pass _Desmond
O'Connor_ (Long) without a most hearty welcome. For it is an excellent
example of its class--full of rescues, of swashbuckling and of midnight
escapes; with a gallant hero (and Irish at that), a lovely heroine, two
bold bad villains and a sufficiency of kings and other historical
celebrities to fill the background picturesquely. In fact Mr. George H.
Jessop has seen to it that no ingredient proper to this kind of dish
shall be wanting, and I have great pleasure in congratulating him upon
the result. _Desmond_ was a soldier of fortune, a captain in the gallant
Irish Brigade that served King Louis XIV. against the Allies. During the
siege of Br