The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-02-09
SHELF
By THE BIBLIOPHILE

fish Squire Mannering asks that he and all that is his may be used flor the coun- try"
 It is this closing part of the book, the part which may be said to begin with Desmonds letter to his sister, which is far and away the most interesting. And 1t is interesting by and of itself because of it's own vivideness and truth, and not on account of anything that has gone before. We are moved by it because il has both the effect and the substance of reality. The awful strain of the weeks of waiting for the German offensive tS begin-we knew something of it ovel here, though our tension was but slight in comparison. And every hour young men like Desmond were then, and are now, meeting their fate as he met his fathers and sisters suffering as the Squire and Pamela suffered.
 CHILDREN OF THE DEAR COTS
 YOLDS"
 By L. Allen Harker Charles Scribner s
 Sons, publishers, New York City.
 In the very interesting book, "Chil- dren of the Dear Cotswolds,'' L. Allen Harker, the author, presents with the charm that characterizes all that she whites, episodes and people of the beautiful Cotswold region in a group of related stories. She says in her foreword:
 Much has been written, and admir- ably written, of the Cotswolds them selves: but not much about the peo- pie. Most of the people in this book belong to those old easy times of over 20 years ago Only one of the stories deals with anything approaching pres ent day, and it is nearly four years old. One story-I may as we'll confess it here-has nothing to do with the Cotswolds; but Teddy in "A Soldiers Button was Paurs cousin-and a dear, and the Cotswold country in the most hospitable country in the world. so we let him in. Mrs. Birkin, Mrs. Cushion, Williams and Dorcas Heaven are of the soil, and so are the children"
 THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND By Jules Verne. Pictures by N. C.
 Weyth. Charles Scrbner's Sons, pub
 fishers New York City.
 An exquisitely bold, book bearing the title of ''The Mysterious Island" is presented to the public-that delight fully romantic, interesting story by Jules Verne, which has afforded so much pleasure to thousands and thousands of readers of good literature in the days gone by.
 In it's new dress" all bright and fashionable, in colorful tones and dainty nuances, "The Mysterious Is- land presents a most charming ap- pearance and the pictorial part of the book. done by N. c. Wyeth, is unusual Fly artistic.
 "The Mysterious Island" of which Jules Verne writes so delightfully."- needs no Introduction to public which knows and loves the many stories which the great genius has written: suffice it to say that romance, mys- tery, adventure, thrilling escapades and dashing episodes form the foun- dation of the story while interspersc1 are flashes of delicious bits of phil osophy and humor which blend clever ly with the rest of the story.
 'The Mysterious Island' in Its love ly new. togs' steps out of the past will all of its old time charm and fas- cination and the beautiful book will be an addition to any library, either private or public.
 BELLY AND THE MAJOR By Emma Speed Sampson. Illustrated by W. M. Donahey The Reilly Britton company, publishers, No 1906 Michigan boulevard, Chicago.
 The thousands who have enjoyed Emma Speed Sampson's delightfully."- written book entitled Miss Minerva" will hail with pleasure Billy and the Major for this story starts right where Miss Minerva" left off. -@ jh ''73.ia 'SIu The major and Miss Minerva" return from their honeymoon. as Billy ia cetiously expresses it, for if they's honey, they mus be some bees" and