The Baron can highly recommend _The Wages of Sin_, by LUCAS MALET. "I
am informed," says the B. DE B.-W., "that this is the _nom de plume_
of an Authoress. This MALET should be Femalet." Be this as it may, the
Baron, who is discretion itself, will not attempt to penetrate beyond
the veil. Some of the writing is a bit tall; but thank heaven, my old
æsthetic friend, "O-the-pity-of-it" occurs only once; and O the pity
of it when he does so, and gives a "MAUDLE and POSTLETHWAITE" tone to
the passage in question. What does "huffle" mean? (Vol. III., p. 82.)
Genius has a right to create words; and when Genius does so, the very
sound of the word conveys its meaning with and frequently without the
context. "But I'm huffled," says the Baron, "if I understand it here."
Still "huffled" is a good-substitute for strong language, when you're
ruffled. Don't let the light-hearted reader be deterred by the slow
pace of Volume One; but stick to it, and avoid skipping. A selfish
mean cuss is the "hero," so to style him; and personally, the Baron
would consider him in Society as a first-class artistic bore. The
character is drawn with great skill, as are they all. The description
of _Mrs. Crookendon's_ after-dinner party is as life-like as if it
were a well-staged scene in a well-written and well-cast Drama.

"I have been dipping into _Country House Sketches_, by C.C. RHYS,"
says the Baron, "and have come to the conclusion that if the author,
youthful I fancy, would give himself time, and have the patience to
'follow my LEVER,' the result would be a _Jack Hinton Junior_, with
a smack of _Soapey Sponge_ in it." The short stories are all, more or
less, good, and would be still better but for a certain cocksureness
about them which savours of the man in a country house who will insist
on telling you a series of good stories about himself, one after the
other, until the guests in the smoking-room, in sheer despair of ever