The Three Scouts

The South African war provided splendid scope for our novelists, and it was natural that they should abundantly avail themselves of it. Mr. Whishaw has taken the field metaphorically, but with a difference. Instead of details of battles and awful suffering and a deluge of blood, he has written a very neat story indeed of pluck ingenuity and resource exhibited by the young Englishmen who are his heroes in their efforts to elude their Boer adversaries and escape from the prison at Pretoria. Geoff and Bunny Bigby, declined by the authorities as combatants, take to scouting. After one of their rides they are surprised by Boers as they lie asleep in a farmhouse. The upshot of this is that while Geoff regains his liberty, Bunny finds himself a prisoner in Pretoria. Geoff returns to Durban and he and another brother, Hugh, determine upon a plan of rescuing Bunny. A daring, impossible plan, it appears, but coolness, sublime assurance, and keenness carry them through, and Bunny and a friend who is also a prisoner leave their Boer friends to regret their loss. But the feat is not achieved without many anxious moments and the risk of detection and death should a single mistake be made. There is a villain in the piece and two Dutch girls have prominent parts in the great scheme. The book is a truly delightful one and should be widely read.