A Blot on the Scutcheon Part 61

The Battle.

From the French of CLAUDE FARReRE. Translated by E. DE CLAREMONT TONNeRE. With 9 Ill.u.s.trations. Crown 8vo. 6s.

"The Battle" is an extraordinarily fine novel of j.a.panese life and the period the time of the j.a.panese-Russian war. Published in France about two years ago, it has during this period run through the remarkable sale of half a million copies. "The Battle" has for its chief characters a j.a.panese commander, a brilliant young English naval officer, a Frenchman of original talent, and a j.a.panese heroine. It might be called a novel of intrigue. There is one chapter in the book describing a battle which took place during the recent war that is told with such remarkable distinction that the reader will not find it easy to forget. "The Battle" is undoubtedly one of the best books MILLS & BOON will publish during 1912.

The Written Law.

By FRANCES G. KNOWLES-FOSTER, Author of "Jehanne of the Golden Lips."

Crown 8vo. 6s.

There was published nearly two years ago a remarkable first novel, ent.i.tled "Jehanne of the Golden Lips," which won praise and distinction in one bound. In "The Written Law" Miss Frances-Knowles Foster has written a modern novel dealing chiefly with Burmese life. It is a powerful and dramatic story of intense interest, and it clearly stamps its author as one who has to be counted in the fiction writers of the moment.

Nights and Days.

By MAUDE ANNESLEY, Author of "All Awry." Crown 8vo. 6s.

A volume of stories.

The Thornbush near the Door.

By SOPHIE COLE, Author of "A Wardour Street Idyll." Crown 8vo. 6s.

Sons of State.

By WINIFRED GRAHAM, Author of "Mary." Crown 8vo. 6s.

The Girl with the Blue Eyes.

By LADY TROUBRIDGE, Author of "Body and Soul." Crown 8vo. 6s.

Enter Bridget.

By THOMAS COBB, Author of "The Choice of Theodora." Crown 8vo. 6s.

The Prince and Betty.

By P. G. WODEHOUSE, Author of "Love Among the Chickens," Crown 8vo. 6s.

The Silver Medallion.

By PERCY J. BREBNER, Author of "A Gentleman of Virginia." Crown 8vo.

6s.

Men and Dreams.

By MARY E. MANN. Crown 8vo. 6s.

A volume of stories.

Ruth of the Rowldrich.

By MRS. STANLEY WRENCH, Author of "Burnt Wings." Crown 8vo. 6s.

The book hovers irresolute between Arcady and Alsatia, for it is a story of a woman divided between her love of the country with the folk to whom she belongs, and the fascination of the "life literary" into which she is drawn. The call of London and the spell wielded by the countryside alternate, and our heroine, Ruth, is a very woman, swayed by impulse at whiles, so that whilst we are certain in one chapter that the witchery of the Rowldrich country will claim her, in the next we know that "the street of adventure" has for her a magic all its own.

Wallace Benham, the Bohemian painter, fans the restless spirit in her, encourages her literary tendencies, and flatters her vanity, so that, leaving David her faithful lover behind, Ruth comes up to the great city, and we get glimpses of Fleet Street life, peeps at literary Bohemia, with here and there shy returnings to the Rowldrich and its spell. Very soon a dual struggle begins. Ruth finds comrades amongst the men with whom she works ... there are some who would fain be lovers, and there is one man, a Robert Forbes, to whom Ruth is strongly attached, and possibly were he free Ruth's story would have another ending. How his destiny is mingled with hers, with that of Essie her half-sister, and with Benham the painter, would be too long to relate here; so, too, Ruth's alternating fits of despair and hope over the books she writes. It is not until the last chapter that we can be sure whether Love or Ambition will claim her, and it would not be fair to give away the secret here, though it may be safe to say the book ends with a happy note.

His First Offence.

By J. STORER CLOUSTON, Author of "The Prodigal Father, "The Peer's Progress." Crown 8vo. 6s.

"His First Offence" is a new, laughter-making novel by the author of "The Lunatic at Large" and "The Prodigal Father," two of the most popular humorous stories that have ever been published. "His First Offence" deals with a farcical situation in the shape of a detective story, which from first to last is written with extraordinary high spirits and delightful humour. "His First Offence" should be read by all who like hearty laughter, and is a certain cure for the blues.

The Mark.

By MRS. PHILIP CHAMPION DE CRESPIGNY, Author of "The Valley of Achor."

Crown 8vo. 6s.

The Prelude to Adventure.

By HUGH WALPOLE, Author of "Mr. Perrin and Mr. Traill." Crown 8vo. 6s.

The Prince.

By THOMAS METCALFE (late the Leinster Regiment Royal Canadians). Crown 8vo. 6s.

The Author, writing to his publishers, says:

"Reading it over, it seems a strange work for these days, when almost every novelist poses as a professor in ethics and the claim is made that the novel should become the public's Bible. It is because my view is so utterly opposed to this tendency; because I believe that the showman's booth is still possessed of more attraction for the many, than the village inst.i.tute, with its lecturer; that I have deliberately written such a work, and so venture to test my theory.

"If there be any signs of problems in the book (and I am not aware that there are) they are no more than bare figures, drawn in tears and lettered with laughter upon the great universal blackboard, before which we poor schoolboys stand, hopeless as ever of finding solutions.... The work, after all, is but the outcome of the varied jumble of a life of some few sorrows and many great joys!"

Stories Without Tears.