Jim Mortimer

Mr. Bell knows boys and men, as his "Tales from Greyhouse " proved, and Jim Mortimer is simply a grown-up boy, and a very fine boy too. The art of self-defence figures somewhat largely in some of the earlier chapters, yet we must confess that it is all in a good cause. Jim is a very natural character, and all the other actors in the story are human too; and here it may be observed that though Mr. Bell uses stock characters of a well- known type for minor figures in the drama, he gives them enough vitality to make them distinct beings. Not the least notice- able feature of his art is the lifelike and vigorous dialogue, to say nothing of the action; there is a spontaneity, a movement, about his narration and incidents that is unusual. He has a very valuable gift, and as long as he is careful not to let it merge into melodrama, he will never be without an audience, even a critical audience. As a writer of boys' stories of English life, school or otherwise, he is second to none.