23 JULY 1892, Page 26

A Strange Elopement. By W. Clark Russell. (Macmillan.)— Mr. Clark

Russell, as usual, makes an effective little picture out of very simple and familiar materials. Two lovers are separated by an ill•conditioned father, who carries the lady off to India. The gentle- man follows in the character of a stowaway, who, however, has duly paid his fare. His presence is discovered, and then there is nothing for it but an elopement. How an elopement can be managed from an East Indiaman in mid-ocean is Mr. Clark Russell's secret, and a reviewer must not divulge it. The story is told by a landsman, who nevertheless kno ws something about nautical matters, as Mr.

Russell's landsmen are apt to do. The characters are slightly but definitely sketched, and the book shows all through the touch of a practised pen.