DICK O' THE FENS:
A Romance of the Great East Swamp. By G. Manville Fenn. With 12 full-page Illustrations by Frank Dadd. Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, olivine edges, $1·50.
A tale of boy life in the old Lincolnshire Fens, when the first attempts were made to reclaim them and turn the reedy swamps, and wild-fowl and fish haunted pools into dry land. Dick o' the Fens and Tom o' Grimsey are the sons of a squire and a farmer living on the edge of one of the vast wastes, and their adventures are of unusual interest. Sketches of shooting and fishing experiences are introduced in a manner which should stimulate the faculty of observation and give a healthy love for country life; while the record of the fen-men's stealthy resistance to the great draining scheme is full of the keenest interest. The ambushes and shots in the mist and dark, the incendiary fires, the bursting of the sea-wall, and the long-baffled attempts to trace the lurking foe, are described with Mr. Manville Fenn's wonted skill in the management of mystery.
"We should say that in Dick o' the Fens Mr. Manville Fenn has very nearly attained perfection. Life in the Fen country in the old ante-drainage days is admirably reproduced.... Altogether we have not of late come across a historical fiction, whether intended for boys or for men, which deserves to be so heartily and unreservedly praised as regards plot, incidents, and spirit as Dick o' the Fens. It is its author's masterpiece as yet."—Spectator.
BROWNSMITH'S BOY.
By George Manville Fenn. With 12 full-page Illustrations by Gordon Browne, in black and tint. Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, olivine edges, $1·50.
The career of "Brownsmith's Boy" embraces the home adventures of an orphan, who, having formed the acquaintance of an eccentric old gardener, accepts his offer of a home and finds that there is plenty of romance in a garden, and much excitement even in a journey now and then to town. In a half-savage lad he finds a friend who shows his love and fidelity principally by pretending to be an enemy. In "Brownsmith's Boy" there is abundance of excitement and trouble within four walls.
"Brownsmith's Boy excels all the numerous 'juvenile' books that the present season has yet produced."—Academy.
"Mr. Fenn's books are among the best, if not altogether the best, of the stories for boys. Mr. Fenn is at his best in Brownsmith's Boy. The story is a thoroughly manly and healthy one."—Pictorial World.
"Brownsmith's Boy must rank among the few undeniably good boys' books. He will be a very dull boy indeed who lays it down without wishing that it had gone on for at least 100 pages more."—North British Mail.