ident of this enchanting chronicle and for the portrait of _Rachel_
in particular.

* * * * *

_Modern Pig-Sticking_ (MACMILLAN) is a book that, appearing at this
particular moment, has an air of detachment not without its own charm.
Chiefly, of course, it appeals to a special and limited public--a
public, moreover, that is at present too busy to give it the attention
that it would otherwise command. Certainly Major A. E. WARDROP'S
spirited pages deserve to rank with the best that has been written about
this sport. As one frankly ignorant, I was myself astonished to find how
considerable a body is this literature. As for the gallant Major's own
contribution, it is sufficiently well-written to make tales of sporting
feats and adventures interesting to the outsider. Which is saying a lot.
At the same time his sense of humour is sufficiently strong to save
enthusiasm from becoming oppressive. Certainly he loves his theme, as I
suppose a good pig-sticker should. "To see hog and hunter charge each
other bald-headed with a simultaneous squeal of rage is," he says
youthfully, "always delightful." It is all, in these more strenuous
times, most refreshing and even a little wistful in its _naivete_. The
honest and brave gentlemen whose exploits it records are about another
kind of pig-sticking now. One hopes that practice with the Indian
variety may help them in their chase of the Uhlan road-hog. Here's power
to their spears!

For all his good humour, Mr. PETT RIDGE can say a hard thing now and
then about humanity in general and point it with a touch of startling
sarcasm. Possibly it is this combination which makes him the favourite
author he is. While we get tired of the harsh satirist who is always up
against us, and pay little attention to his teaching, we not only profit
by the occasional home truths of the genial humourist, but thoroughly
enjoy hearing them. Certainly it is not Mr. RIDGE'S plots which so
attract everybody, including myself. _The Happy Recruit_ (METHUEN) might
as well (or even better) have been plotless. There is the central
figure, _Carl Siemens_, who comes to England from abroad in his youth
and has an unremarkable career, and there is a mysterious and rather
tiresome trunk which is mentioned from time to time and finally opened;
but apart from these the book is but a collection of little episodes
more or less about the same people, the _Maynard_ family in particular.
It is