13 JANUARY 1894, Page 26

Facing Fearful Odds. By Gordon Stables. (Shaw and Co.)— The

period of which our author writes is the War of Indepen- dence in America. We begin with a pleasing and somewhat ideal account of life in the backwoods, and finish up with some fighting. The first part is good; but we cannot say the same for the last, for when Dr. Stables gets into history, he becomes somewhat excited and forgetful of his narrative ; he has not the happiest knack of combining history and fiction. However, it is a readable tale, and, of course, there is a love-story.