and the mysterious small boy.  Shall I give you one clue?  Somebody is mad; nor is it (as you may at one time have been tempted to suppose) either the author or reader.  More than this wild horses should not extort from me.  But I confess to a rewarding thrill and a very grateful relief when the mystery was finally cleared up.  A good and interesting book, both for its plot and for some very agreeable Cornish scenes, which would have been even more welcome had the delectable Duchy not already engaged the pens of our novelists more than enough.

* * * * *

Mrs.  “J.E.  BUCKROSE” is one of those writers whose work can always be depended upon.  A pinch of pathos, a soupcon of sentiment, a spice of humour—­there you have the recipe, and a very palatable mixture it makes.  The common element that pervades the dozen stories which compose War-Time in Our Street (HODDER AND STOUGHTON), all in the author’s best manner, is the staunch devotion to duty displayed by her heroines under stress of war.  Pangs of hunger are endured nobly, hard-hearted folk are softened, lonely women fight and win the battle against depression.  If these pictures of life behind the windows of our village streets are too couleur de BUCKROSE to be quite true, there is nevertheless a real quality in them.  They are not for the cynic, but for readers who can appreciate simple tales of simple people, told without affectation.

* * * * *

[Illustration:  The Airman. “I SAY, HAVE YOU SEEN A CIGARETTE-HOLDER ANYWHERE ABOUT?  I DROPPED MINE YESTERDAY WHEN I WAS FLYING OVER THIS PLACE.”]

* * * * *

“To shoot well at fixed targets, after the range has been exactly registered, as in trench warfare, is one thing, but front and pick up distances smarly, is quite to trot into action, unlimber and form action another, and this is where many phophets anticipated our new Army would be found wanting, but prophecy is becoming a profitless business in this war.”—­Bath Herald.

Well, why not try proof-reading as a change?

* * * * *

    “The Rector nominated Mr. C. Yells as his warden.  Captain Noyes was
    appointed sidesman.”—­Provincial Paper.

Otherwise the proceedings seem to have gone off quietly.