Mr. REX BEACH is one of the few prolific writers whose stories increase in power as they increase in number, and this though they are essentially novels of action rather than novels of thought. Of his latest effort, _The Winds of Chance_ (HODDER AND STOUGHTON), one may say that there is not a tedious page in it. The scene is laid in Yukon, a very vortex of life and colour and excitement in fiction, whatever it may seem to the actual inhabitants. The true hero of the story, _Napoleon Doret_, the French voyageur, wins his heart's desire in the end and we breathe a sigh of relief. The other hero is left the accepted swain of the daughter of the Colonel of the North-West Mounted Police at Dawson, and this we find a little hard to swallow, seeing what shady, not to say immoral, company, male and female, he had just been basking in. He is a weak creature and certainly should have married the _Countess Courteau_, an Amazonian lady, who would have kept him in order. But that is to be fastidious. The story is crisp and vivid, and, anyway, those ancient prospectors, _Tom Linton_ and _Jerry McQuirk_, are worth twice the money.
Mr. Punch has great pleasure in commending to his readers two volumes of verse--_Rhymes of the Red Ensign_ (HODDER AND STOUGHTON), by Miss C. FOX SMITH, and _The Poets in Picardy_ (MURRAY), by Major E. DE STEIN--in which they will recognise many poems that have appeared in his pages.
[Illustration: _Master_. "BUT, JENKINS, THE NAME OF THE COMPLAINT IS NOT PEWMONIA. SURELY YOU'VE HEARD ME AGAIN AND AGAIN SAY 'PNEUMONIA'?"
_Man_. "WELL, SIR, I 'AVE; BUT I DIDN'T LIKE TO CORRECT YOU."]
"Superior Working Housekeeper and young Maid for Ladies' College. No cooking; students sleep only."--_Church Times_.
"The interesting announcement is made that a regular air service for perishable goods and passengers is to be established at Edinburgh."--_Scotsman_.
"The London season has begun with its usual extensive programme of religious services in various London churches."--_Scots Paper_.
The best comment that we have yet seen on this statement occurs in the following (also from a Scots paper):--
"The Commander-in-Chief has borne testimony on behalf of the Grand Fleet to the work that the Scittish Bishops have done for the Navy during the War."