Garmiseath. By J. Storer Clouston. (W. Blackwood and Sons. 6s.)—leaders
of that admirable book, "The Lunatic at Large," may find in this story something to disappoint them. There is none of the irresponsible fun and delicate extravagance of the author's early work, scarcely even anything approaching the humorous in this homely tale of the Orkney Islands. Yet Mr. Clouston has given us an excellent novel of the old-fashioned kind which our fathers called a comedy of manners,---a harder task, perhaps, than high-spirited farce. The story is framed on the most conventional lines,—the small laird persecuted by a tyrannical neighbour ; an ill-fated love affair between Naboth's son and Ahab's daughter; an ascending scale of misfortunes till the young lover returns with his pockets full of Australian gold to buy out Ahab and marry the lady. But into these dry bones of romance Mr. Clouston has instilled the vitality which comes from shrewd observation and intimate knowledge. The remote Orcadian life is well portrayed, and the freshness of strong sea-winds is about the tale. Captain Maitland is studied from the life, and the Odaller of Garmi-scath is a new and attractive personality in fiction. If the young hero is a somewhat stockish figure, Edith is a charming heroine, fully realised and sympa-
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