I happen to have incontrovertible proof (of the external kind) that the one and only Mr. G. K. CHESTERTON is the author of _The Flying Inn_ (METHUEN). Otherwise I should have judged, by internal evidence, that it was the work of an inferior writer of the same name as himself, and, curiously enough, the same initials. Though hesitating to encourage litigation I should have been inclined to recommend Mr. CHESTERTON to apply as soon as possible for an injunction to restrain this person from doing anything further to damage the real G. K. C.'s reputation. I should have hinted that every now and then I had come upon a passage which might well be the work of the author of _Heretics and Tremendous Trifles_, and that only the intolerable dulness of the book as a whole persuaded me that it had been written by another hand. It deals with the adventures of _Lord Ivywood_ and _Captain Dalroy_, men of opposite views on the subject of temperance. _Lord Ivywood_, having by some mysterious means (not explained) acquired despotic power in England, issued an edict that all inns should be abolished. At the same time he decreed that alcoholic liquor might be sold wherever an inn-sign stood. _Captain Dalroy_ accordingly stole the sign of "The Old Ship," and carried it about with him, setting it up wherever his fancy dictated. And that, on my honour as a Learned Clerk, is the whole plot of a fat, closely-printed book of more than three hundred pages. I hope I have a fairly catholic appreciation of humour; certainly, I can enjoy most things, from MEREDITH to the American coloured comic supplement; but _The Flying Inn_ was too much for me. It cannot have been easy to write, even given useful characters like _Lord Ivywood_ and _Captain Dalroy_, whose remarks can be made to run into three or four pages; but it is considerably harder to read. There are good things in it, just as there is gold (I understand) in sea-water, but the process of extraction is tedious. * * * * *