; and, had he stayed the course--only another
hour or so--he would have found that all had turned out for the best and
that adequate arrangements had been made for his permanent happiness. No
doubt these things happen in real life and I cannot accuse Mr. GEORGE
WOUIL (a most discerning author) of any inhuman treatment of his puppet;
yet I wish that he had been more kindly disposed and had spared me a
bitter disappointment. Having known _Paul_, man and boy, for upwards of
ten years, I had become sincerely attached to him; as assistant
time-keeper, foreman and works-manager he showed a spirit true to the
real Black Country type. He had his moments of weakness when he went
astray after the manner of his kind; but he always became master of
himself again and, when he had to, paid like a man the price of his
misdeeds, never pausing to discover the overcharge. As for _Joan Ware_,
his intended and his due, she was a dear; poor dear!

* * * * *

I do not think that you will believe _The Story of Fifine_ (CONSTABLE),
although Mr. BERNARD CAPES takes some pains to give it an air of
actuality; but if you are like me you will not be greatly concerned
about that. Purporting to be the ill-used daughter of a mad French
marquis, _Fifine_, in that _naive_ and charming way which has always
been so dear to the hearts of novelists, came to live at the bachelor
abode in Paris of the sculptor _Felix Dane_ (his half-sister, who was
keeping house for the marquis, provided the introduction), and, calling
each other "cousin" and "gossip," these two shared rooms together in
perfect simplicity of soul and held several conversations which reflect,
I suppose, Mr. BERNARD CAPES' views on the plastic arts and life in
general. And why, in passing, he should continue to heap ridicule on
staid Victorian respectability I cannot for the life of me imagine. The
plucky and unorthodox thing nowadays surely is to make game of
Bohemianism. But, anyhow, the happy moment for me arrived when _Felix
Dane_ suggested (on the grounds that the marquis would soon discover his
daughter's hiding-place) a holiday tour through Provence. Mr. BERNARD
CAPES in Provence is Mr. BERNARD CAPES at his best. How the lovers (for
that--perhaps you roguishly guessed it?--they gradually became) paid
visits to Nimes, to Aigues-Mortes, to Arles and to Paradou les Baux, and
met _M. Carabas Cabarus_, the native minstrel, you must read for
yourself, for I cann