At one time, I hope for ever gone, Mr. PERCY WHITE'S sense of irony ran away with him. He seemed to have said to himself, "I can write witty dialogue and I have a shrewd eye for foibles, and if you are not satisfied with that you can take it or leave it." I for one took it, but always with a feeling that he was offering me a sparkling wine of a quality not first-rate, whereas with a little more trouble and expense he could have offered me an unimpeachable brand. Now that _Cairo_ (CONSTABLE) has provided me with what I have been waiting for, I am more than delighted to present my acknowledgments. Mr. WHITE'S subject is pat to the moment; moreover it is handled with such unobtrusive skill that one absorbs a serious problem without being anxiously conscious that all the play of intrigue and adventure is covering a much deeper motive. When Mr. WHITE sent _Daniel Addington_ to Egypt to meet _Abdul Sayed_, who had been at Oxford and was a leader of the Young Egyptian party, he gave himself a chance of which he has taken full advantage. It is true that _Addington_ cried a pest on all politics as soon as he fell a victim to the charms of _Ann Donne_, a widow of excessive sprightliness; but by that time he was too deeply enmeshed in the nets of intrigue to escape the just reward of those amateurs who dabble with critical situations. _Abdul_ regarded him as a "milksop," and so he was from _Abdul's_ full-blooded point of view; but I can also see in him a fresh testimony to the courage of our race. For he married the widow _Ann_, and that was a very plucky thing to do. * * * * *