I hope "Miss M.E. FRANCIS" will take it as a compliment when I say that _Beck of Beckford_ (ALLEN AND UNWIN) should form part of the holiday equipment of all of us whose brows are not too exalted to enjoy it. In her unostentatious way Miss FRANCIS knows how to provide ample entertainment, and she has nothing to learn in point of form. When we are introduced to the _Becks_ they are proud and poor, having impoverished themselves in the process of removing a blot from their escutcheon. _Sir John_ is a working farmer, and _Lady Beck_ does menial duties with an energy that most servants of to-day would not care to imitate. The apple of their old eyes is their grandson, _Roger_, and the story turns on his struggle between pride and love. No true Franciscan need be told that he comes through his struggle, with flying colours. So quietly and easily does the tale run that one is apt to overlook the art with which it is told. But the art is there all the time. * * * * * [Illustration: _Countrywoman_ (_her first glimpse of the sea_). "AIN'T IT ASTONISHIN', WILLIUM? WHO'D 'AVE THOUGHT THEER COULD BE AS MUCH WATER AS THAT?" _Willium._ "YES; AN' REMEMBER, MARIA, YE ONLY SEE WHAT'S ON TOP."] * * * * * "You can greet an acquaintance while you are cycling by smiling and nodding your head or by waving. Which you do depends on the depth of your acquaintanceship."--_Home Notes._ And not, as you might think, on your proficiency as a cyclist.