The Motto of Mrs. McLane. By Shirley Carson. (Edward Arnold.
3s. 6d.)—It is a great refreshment to come after a course of present-day novels upon this "story of an American farm," so natural, so true, so fresh and wholesome is it. Mrs. McLane, wife of a farmer who can hardly make both ends meet, is suddenly called upon to take in the orphaned child of a step- sister. " What'll father say ?" asks the doubtful Dick. (" Father" is at work at a lumber camp.) The reply is cogent and expresses the situation. " Your father's not here to say a word," is Mrs. McLane's conclusive reply, based on the principle that " six children aren't so much more than five, when you come to think of it." So the child comes, and the story goes on. There is no plot —one might almost say no incidents. A working bee, the visit of a wandering pedlar, seem to serve the purpose well enough. And there is no particular ending; the girl's aunt comes to take her away, and she goes, with just a hint that we may hear of her again. But we feel that we have been reading about real people of a good sort.
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