inevitable duologue of reconciliation, through which I can never help
hearing the rustle of opera-cloaks and the distant cab-whistles.
Charming, charming. Mr. H.B. SOMERVILLE has furnished a pleasant
entertainment, and one that (like all good readers or spectators) you
will enjoy none the less because of its entire familiarity.

* * * * *

_The Flight of Mariette_ (CHAPMAN AND HALL) is a slender volume, whose
simplicity gives it a poignancy both incongruous and grim. Much of it
you might compare to the diary of a butterfly before and whilst being
broken on the wheel. _Mariette_, the jolly little maid of Antwerp, was
so tender and harmless a butterfly; and the machine that broke her
life and drove her to the martyrdom of exile was so huge and cruel a
thing. How cruel in its effects it is well for us just now to be again
reminded, lest, in these days of hurrying horrors, remembrance should
be weakened. To that extent therefore Miss GERTRUDE E.M. VAUGHAN has
done good service in compiling this human document of accusation. In
a preface Mr. JOHN GALSWORTHY pleads the cause of our refugee guests,
not so much for charity as for comprehension. Certainly, _The Flight
of Mariette_ will do much to further such understanding. I think I
need only add that half the proceeds of its sale will go to feed the
seven million Belgians still in Belgium (prey to the twin wolves
of Prussia and starvation) for you to see that three shillings and
sixpence could hardly be better used than in the purchase of a copy.

* * * * *

I was beginning to wonder whether Mr. EDEN PHILLPOTTS was suffering
from writer's cramp, so much longer than usual does it seem since I