26 JUNE 1926, Page 27

SHIPS THAT PASS IN _THE NIGHT _ CLUBS. By Gurney,

Slade.. (Cassell and • Co. 7s... . 6d. net,)—So thorOtiOly-entertaining andViccissfUl a light- novel as this is all too seldom published. The reader is forced to smile On the first page, and continues to beam throughout these adventures of a young Australian who' comes to England to find, and marry, a girl he had once Seen-but never met during the War. His task was not easy, although he had a laconic naval friend to help him, and sympathy and advice from waiters, page-boys and women novelists. The path of love for him lay past the -clock, at Charing Cross, where he eventually espies his lady, through night-clubs galore, and out towards Black- heath. He is` compelled to steal a live bear, dismay a drago- Man, and play golf before all comes well. But his adventures, and those of his intended bride, not to mention those of her very frank girl friend Phyllis, are so rapidly, so light=heartedly told, with so much, spice, that one wishes the volume twice as long. Young men anxious to- learn how • young women talk of their admirers should consult:Ships that Pass in the Night Clubs'-r- it will be a revelation, and a warning, to them. Shrewdness is mingled with the laughter throughout this most amusing novel.