hown
passing swiftly from worse to unbearable, and herself broken at last by the
ordeal of the witness-box in a "defended action." Inevitably such a book, a
record of disillusion and increasing misery, can hardly be cheerful; tales
with a purpose seldom are. But the poignant humanity of it will hold your
sympathy throughout. You may think that Mr. MAXWELL too obviously loads his
dice, and be aware also that (like others of its kind) the story suffers
from over-concentration on a single theme. It moves in a world of
incompatibles. The heroine's kindly friend is tied to a dipsomaniac wife;
her coachman has no remedy for a ruined home because of the expense of
divorce, and so on. To a great extent, however, Mr. MAXWELL'S craft has
enabled him to overcome even these obstacles; his characters, though you
may suspect manipulation, remain true types of their rather tiresome kind,
and the result is a book that, though depressing, refuses to be put down.
But as a wedding-present--no!

* * * * *

_The Underworld_ (JENKINS) describes life round about and down below a
small coal-mine in Scotland something near thirty years ago. Its author,
JAMES WELSH, tells us in a simple manly preface that he became a miner at
the age of twelve, and worked at every phase of coal-getting till lately he
was appointed check-weigher by his fellows, and therefore writes of what he
knows at first hand. Here then is a straightforward tale with for hero a
sensitive and enthusiastic young miner who draws his inspiration from BOB
SMILLIE, loses his girl to the coal-owner's son and his life in a
rescue-party. The villain, double-dyed, is not the coal-owner but his
"gaffer," who favours his men as to choice of position at the coal-face in
return for favours received from their wives. The chief surprise to the
reader will be the difference between the status and power of the miner
then and now. The writer has a considerable skill in composing effective
dialogue, especially between his men; gives a convincing picture of the pit
and home life, the anxieties, courage, affections and aspirations of the
friends of whom he is "so proud." Nor does he cover up their weaknesses.
Purple passages of fine writing show his inexperience slipping into
pitfalls by the way, but his work rings true and deserves to be read by
many at the present time when miners are so far from being victims of "the
block"--the employers' device for starving out a