_The Wise Virgins_ (ARNOLD) is one of those quaint old-world stories of the day when there were artists and individualists who despised convention and the stiffness of ordinary morality and wanted to realise themselves and occupied quite a lot of our attention. To read it is to plunge back through the mists of time into the early summer of 1914 A.D. And even then I have my doubts as to whether I should have been persuaded to share the sympathy which L. F. WOOLF appears to feel for _Harry Davis_, the young Richstead painter. The two types of people among whom his lot is cast are cleverly if much too bitterly and unkindly contrasted--the _Garlands_, pre-eminently suburban, unable and (all except _Gwen_) unwilling to leave their monotonous groove, and the _Lawrences_, too cultured and full of æsthetic sensibilities to do anything but sit still and talk. _Harry_ combines the æsthetic sense with a restless vitality which he attributes to his Jewish origin, and is desirous of action and enterprise. And so, rejected by _Camilla Lawrence_, he talks to _Gwen_ until she almost compels him to compromise her, and the book closes with the mockery of a forced marriage in deference to the sentiments of Philistia. In spite of some skilful and penetrating satire, I fancy that 1915 will consider _The Wise Virgins_ neither a very nice nor a very necessary book. * * * * * [Illustration: _Teashop Waitress_ (_feeling the pinch of War_). "JUST LOOK AT THAT LOT, EDNA! NOT FIVE MINUTES' CHAT IN THE WHOLE CROWD."] * * * * * IN A GOOD CAUSE. The claims which have been made by Belgium upon the generosity of the British public have been eagerly met, but the needs of her Army do not seem to have been fully realised. If we owe one debt more than other it is to the fighting men among our Belgian allies. These brave fellows are still in want of warm clothing and those simple comforts--such as tobacco and chocolate--which sound so little and mean so much. _Mr. Punch_, at the risk of seeming importunate in his demands upon the goodness of his readers, begs them to give their help where it is so sorely needed. Gifts in kind should be addressed to Commandant MATON, 23, City Road, E.C., and money gifts (perhaps the more useful form of help) to M. VANDERVELDE, Victoria Hotel, Northumberland Avenue, S.W. * * * Tho Honorary Secretary of the Queen's "Work for Women" Fund, 33, Portland Place, W., desires to express her gratitude to those who generously responded to _Mr. Punch's_ appeal for this good cause. * * * * * End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 148, January 20th 1915, by Various