Captain Bayley's Heir: A Tale of the Gold Fields of California
Page 38
BY GEORGE MANVILLE FENN.
"Mr. Fenn is in the front rank of writers of stories for boys."--_Liverpool Mercury._
* * * * *
_DICK O' THE FENS:_
A Romance of the Great East Swamp. By G. MANVILLE FENN. With 12 full-page Illustrations by FRANK DADD. Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, olivine edges, $1.50.
A tale of boy life in the old Lincolnshire Fens, when the first attemptswere made to reclaim them and turn the reedy swamps, and wild-fowl andfish haunted pools into dry land. Dick o' the Fens and Tom o' Grimseyare the sons of a squire and a farmer living on the edge of one of thevast wastes, and their adventures are of unusual interest. Sketches ofshooting and fishing experiences are introduced in a manner which shouldstimulate the faculty of observation and give a healthy love for countrylife; while the record of the fen-men's stealthy resistance to the greatdraining scheme is full of the keenest interest. The ambushes and shotsin the mist and dark, the incendiary fires, the bursting of thesea-wall, and the long-baffled attempts to trace the lurking foe, aredescribed with Mr. Manville Fenn's wonted skill in the management ofmystery.
"We should say that in _Dick o' the Fens_ Mr. Manville Fenn has very nearly attained perfection. Life in the Fen country in the old ante-drainage days is admirably reproduced. . . . Altogether we have not of late come across a historical fiction, whether intended for boys or for men, which deserves to be so heartily and unreservedly praised as regards plot, incidents, and spirit as _Dick o' the Fens_. It is its author's masterpiece as yet."--_Spectator._
_BROWNSMITH'S BOY._
By GEORGE MANVILLE FENN. With 12 full-page Illustrations by GORDON BROWNE, in black and tint. Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, olivine edges, $1.50.
The career of "Brownsmith's Boy" embraces the home adventures of anorphan, who, having formed the acquaintance of an eccentric oldgardener, accepts his offer of a home and finds that there is plenty ofromance in a garden, and much excitement even in a journey now and thento town. In a half-savage lad he finds a friend who shows his love andfidelity principally by pretending to be an enemy. In "Brownsmith's Boy"there is abundance of excitement and trouble within four walls.
"_Brownsmith's Boy_ excels all the numerous 'juvenile' books that the present season has yet produced."--_Academy._
"Mr. Fenn's books are among the best, if not altogether the best, of the stories for boys. Mr. Fenn is at his best in _Brownsmith's Boy_. The story is a thoroughly manly and healthy one."--_Pictorial World._
"_Brownsmith's Boy_ must rank among the few undeniably good boys' books. He will be a very dull boy indeed who lays it down without wishing that it had gone on for at least 100 pages more."--_North British Mail._