_Cautious Stout Party._ "THANK YOU, MY BOY, BUT I'M AFRAID IT WOULD HARDLY
BEAR ME."

_Zealous Boy Scout._ "OH, THAT'S ALL RIGHT, SIR. WE HAVE FIRST AID AND
AMBULANCE ON THE OTHER SIDE!"]

* * * * *

OUR BOOKING-OFFICE.

(_By Mr. Punch's Staff of Learned Clerks._)

The author of _Pantomime_ (HUTCHINSON) has placed me in something of a
quandary. In an ordinary way, finding a story with this title, in which
moreover the chief characters are spoken of as Princess and Principal Boy,
and the narrative is broken every now and then by fantastical little
dialogues with Fairies, I should have said at once that here was a clever
young writer whom a natural admiration for the work of Mr. DION CLAYON
CALTHROP had betrayed into the sincerest form of flattery. But Mr. (or
perhaps Miss) G. B. STERN has disarmed me by an open avowal of discipleship
and a dedication of the tale to Mr. CALTHROP himself. It is a quite
pleasant tale. Personally I may confess to a preference, which I suspect
most readers will share, for getting this precise form of whimsical romance
from the original firm; but there is more than enough spirit in G. B.
STERN'S work to persuade me that he or she will one day be worth reading in
an individual and unborrowed style. Two things in this story of _Nan_
pleased me especially. One was the chapter relating her experiences at the
Dramatic Academy, which is full of life and actuality, and should be read
by all middle-aged supporters of that institution who wish to obtain a
glimpse of its hard-working and high-spirited heart. The other is the
episode of the muddled elopement, in which _Nan_ and _Tony_, having got as
far as Dover on their way to the Higher Liberty, severally----But I don't
think I will spoil for you the delightful comedy of what happens at Dover
by repeating it. This at least shows G. B. STERN as the owner of a happy
gift of humour. Let us have some more of it soon, please, but if possible
in a more original setting.

* * * * *

Mrs. LEVERSON is one of those authors who baffle criticism by sheer high
spirits. She gives me first and last a prevailing impression that
novel-writing must be tremendous fun; and this is so cheering that it is
really impossible to be angry with her. Otherwise I might have some very
sharp things to say about her light-hearted disregard of syntax and
punctuation. Her pronouns, for example, are so elusive that no