“An easy matter, it would seem, for bonny Kate, notwithstanding her aptness at sharp repartee, is a morsel fit for the gods.

“The accepted suitor appears in due time; but comes to grief at the last moment in a quarrel with Lady Kate over a kiss bestowed by her upon her godmother’s former man of affairs and secretary.  This incident she haughtily refuses to explain.  Moreover, she shatters the bond of engagement, although but three weeks remain of the fatal six months.  She would rather break stones on the road all day and sleep in a pauper’s grave all night, than marry a man who, while professing to love her, would listen to mean and malicious gossips picked up by tell-tales in the servants’ hall.

“So the great estate is likely to be lost to Kate and her debt-ridden father, Lord Claverley.  How it is conserved at last, and gloomy apprehension chased away by dazzling visions of material splendor—­that is the author’s well-kept secret, not to be shared here with a careless and indolent public.”—­Philadelphia North American.

“The long-standing reproach that women are seldom humorists seems in a fair way of passing out of existence.  Several contemporary feminine writers have at least sufficient sense of humor to produce characters as deliciously humorous as delightful.  Of such order is the Countess Claverley, made whimsically real and lovable in the recent book by Ellen Thorneycroft Fowler and A.L.  Felkin, ‘Kate of Kate Hall.’”—­Chicago Record-Herald.

“‘Kate of Kate Hall’ is a novel in which Ellen Thorneycroft Fowler displays her brilliant abilities at their best.  The story is well constructed, the plot develops beautifully, the incidents are varied and brisk, and the dialogue is deliciously clever.”—­Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.

D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, NEW YORK.

* * * * *

LOVE.  MYSTERY.  VENICE.

The Clock and the Key.

By Arthur Henry Vesey. 12mo.  Ornamental Cloth, $1.50.

This is a tale of a mystery connected with an old clock.  The lover, an American man of means, is startled out of his sensuous, inactive life in Venice by his lady-love’s scorn for his indolence.  She begs of him to perform any task that will prove his persistence and worth.  With the charm of Venice as a background, one follows the adventures of the lover endeavoring to read the puzzling hints of the old clock as to the whereabouts of the famous jewels of many centuries ago.  After following many false clues the lover ultimately solves the mystery, triumphs over his rivals, and wins the girl.

AMERICA.

“For an absorbing story it would be hard to beat.”—­Harper’s Weekly.

ENGLAND.

“It will hold the reader till the last page.”—­London Times.

SCOTLAND.

“It would hardly suffer by comparison with Poe’s immortal ’Gold Bug.’"_—­Glasgow Herald._