_With frontispiece in colors by George Harper. Cloth, 12mo, $1.35
net._
Unusual both in thought and in character is this briskly moving
story of adventure in which a young man ultimately finds himself.
The action is vigorous and the tale of the youth's endeavors to
overcome certain deep-rooted traits in his nature appealing. The
novel is distinguished by the vivacity and crispness of the author's
style. For the most part Mr. Gardiner reveals his theme and portrays
his people through dialogue, thus imbuing his book with a liveliness
and an alertness which the reader will find most pleasant. Opening
on the veldt in Africa with a situation of striking power and
originality, the scene, in the course of the plot, shifts to other
lands, bringing in a variety of well-drawn and interesting men and
women. Like A. E. W. Mason's "The Four Feathers," to which it bears
a slight resemblance, "The Reconnaissance" is a story of courage,
raising in perplexing fashion the question as to whether the winner
of the Victoria Cross is a hero or a coward, and answering it in a
way likely to be satisfactory to all.