f his
latest effort, _The Winds of Chance_ (HODDER AND STOUGHTON), one may
say that there is not a tedious page in it. The scene is laid in
Yukon, a very vortex of life and colour and excitement in fiction,
whatever it may seem to the actual inhabitants. The true hero of the
story, _Napoleon Doret_, the French voyageur, wins his heart's desire
in the end and we breathe a sigh of relief. The other hero is left
the accepted swain of the daughter of the Colonel of the North-West
Mounted Police at Dawson, and this we find a little hard to swallow,
seeing what shady, not to say immoral, company, male and female, he
had just been basking in. He is a weak creature and certainly should
have married the _Countess Courteau_, an Amazonian lady, who would
have kept him in order. But that is to be fastidious. The story is
crisp and vivid, and, anyway, those ancient prospectors, _Tom Linton_
and _Jerry McQuirk_, are worth twice the money.

* * * * *

Mr. Punch has great pleasure in commending to his readers two volumes
of verse--_Rhymes of the Red Ensign_ (HODDER AND STOUGHTON), by Miss
C. FOX SMITH, and _The Poets in Picardy_ (MURRAY), by Major E. DE
STEIN--in which they will recognise many poems that have appeared in
his pages.

* * * * *

[Illustration: _Master_. "BUT, JENKINS, THE NAME OF THE COMPLAINT IS
NOT PEWMONIA. SURELY YOU'VE HEARD ME AGAIN AND AGAIN SAY 'PNEUMONIA'?"

_Man_. "WELL, SIR, I 'AVE; BUT I DIDN'T LIKE TO CORRECT YOU."]

* * * * *

HOW TO SOLVE THE FOOD PROBLEM.

"Superior Working Housekeeper and young Maid for Ladies' College.
No cooking; students sleep only."--_Church Times_.

* * * * *

COMMERCIAL CANDOUR.

"The interesting announcement is made that a regular air service
for perishable goods and passengers is to be established at
Edinburgh."--_Scotsman_.

* * * * *

"The London season has begun with its usual extensive programme of
religious services in various London churches."--_Scots Paper_.

The best comment that we have yet seen on this statement occurs in the
following (also from a Scots paper):--

"The Commander-in-Chief has borne testimony on behalf of the Grand
Fleet to the work that the Scittish Bishops have done for the Navy
during the War."

END.

End of Project Gutenberg's