The Voyage of the Blue Vega.' By Dr. Gordon Stables,
R.N. (R.T.S. Ss. 6d.)—Dr. Gordon Stables is an old hand at tales of adventure, whether the scene be laid in the Tropics or as near as may be to the Pole. This story is full of incident, which the author does not fail to make characteristic. There are perils of Arctic seas, a fierce fight with hostile Eskimos, and, to crown all, the discovery of an Admiral dead three centuries before and of a mammoth. Of such an Admiral we have never heard, but a mammoth was found, dating back to the glacial epoch, in Siberian ice.—By the same author we also have A Little Gypsy Lass (W. and R. Chambers, 3s. 6d.) Antony Blake, having been given by his father his choice of a " fling," scorns London and the Continent and elects to spend his timo with a gypsy caravan. It is not an experiment we should recommend, and it might spoil the interest of Dr. Gordon Stables's story to toll how this particular experiment turned out, but a reader will do well to find out for himself.—A Hostage for a Kingdom. By F. B. Forester. (T. Nelson and Sons. 5s.)—This is a story of Spain, and the politics of Spain are somewhat obscure. Were we to take the average reader and ask him what is meant by an Alfonsist, should we be likely to get a correct answer? Would it be certain that he could even give a true account of a Carlist This is a possible drawback to Mr. Forester's story. On the other hand, the scene is comparatively new, and it is manifestly familiar to the tale-writer. There are some striking illustrations showing us Spanish places and people. So effective are they that we rather grudge that one of the six, the drowning scene, though good enough in its way, is not as characteristic as the others.
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