4 DECEMBER 1897, Page 10

Farmer Battle ; but it must be allowed that the

catalogue is a formidable one,—Tom and Ralph, twins, aged thirteen ; Paul, aged twelve ; Hal, aged eleven ; Sam and Tim, twins, aged ten.

However, they give a good account of themselves and their various adversaries, among the latter being the wicked agent, the careless landlord, a Baronet, we regret to say, and the landlord's haughty

son. The story has a somewhat improbable look, as, for instance, when the Baronet and his son are carried down a flooded stream in the family coach. But the mirror which fiction holds up to life is permitted to have curves which heighten the effect of the figures reflected.