_A Little World Apart_ (LANE) is one of those gentle stories that please as much by reminding you of others like them as by any qualities of their own. Indeed you might call it, with no disparagement intended, a fragrant pot-pourri of many rustic romances--_Our Village_, for example, and more than a touch of _Cranford_. Your literary memory may also suggest to you another scene in fiction almost startlingly like the one here, in which the gently-born lover (named _Arthur_) of the village beauty is forced to combat by her rustic suitor. Fortunately, however, Mr. GEORGE STEVENSON has no tragedy like that of _Hetty_ in store for his _Rose_. His picture of rural life is more mellow than melodramatic; and his tale reaches a happy end, unchequered by anything more sensational than a mild outbreak of scandal from the local wag-tongues. There are many pleasant, if rather familiar, characters; though I own to a certain sense of repletion arising from the elderly and domineering dowagers of fiction, of whom _Lady Crane_ may be regarded as embodying the common form. _A Little World Apart_, in short, is no very sensational discovery, but good enough as a quiet corner for repose. * * * * * [Illustration: A MODEL FOR THE HUNS IN BELGIUM. NERO MAKES HIMSELF POPULAR ON A FLAG-DAY IN AID OF HOMELESS ROMANS REDUCED TO DESTITUTION BY THE GREAT FIRE.] * * * * * A VISION OF BLIGHTY. I do not ask, when back on Blighty's shore My frozen frame in liberty shall rest, For pleasure to beguile the hours in store With long-drawn revel or with antique jest. I do not ask to probe the tedious pomp And tinsel splendour of the last Revue; The Fox-trot's mysteries, the giddy Romp, And all such folly I would fain eschew. But, propt on cushions of my long desire, Deep-buried in the vastest of armchairs, Let me recline what time the roaring fire Consumes itself and all my former cares. I shall not think nor speak, nor laugh nor weep, But simply sit and sleep and sleep and sleep. * * * * * "Wanted, Ladyhelp or General, for country, no bread or butter.--Apply 'Gay,' 'Dominion' Office."--_The Dominion_ (_Wellington, N.Z._). We congratulate the advertiser on her cheery optimism. End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 152, April 11, 1917, by Various