Whether it is Mr. MALCOLM ROSS who
supplies the light, and Mr. NOEL ROSS the shade, or _vice versa_, we
are given no means of ascertaining. Between them they have certainly
put together an agreeable patchwork of small and easily read pieces,
most of which have already appeared in journalistic form. It is
perhaps parental prejudice that makes Mr. Punch consider the best of
the bunch to be "Abdul," one of three slight sketches that originally
saw the light in his own pages. _Abdul_ is a joy, also a thief, a
society entertainer, and a Cairo hospital orderly. I can only hope
that the story of how he displayed his patient's sun-browned knees as
a raree show to the convulsed G.O.C. and lady, who were visiting the
hospital, is at least founded on fact. The publishers are entirely
justified in saying that these impressions, made often under actual
fire, have both colour and intimacy. So I wish them good luck in the
campaign for popular favour.
* * * * *
_Fran?ois Villon, His Life and Times_ (HUTCHINSON) is one of those
fortunate volumes that arrive to fill a long vacant corner. So far
as I know, with the exception perhaps of STEVENSON's study, there has
been no means by which the casual reader, as apart from the student,
could correct his probably very vague ideas about the Father of
Realism.
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