THE HAPPY END

by Ben Ames Williams'10. The Derrydale Press, p. 240. #7.50.

The Derrydale Press have long been famous for their sporting books issued in limited editions. This volume with delightful illustrations (including a pencil sketch of the author) by Churchill Ettinger is no exception. Beautifully printed on good paper in an edition of 1250 copies, it is a book that the sportsman will be glad to own, both because of its format, and especially because of the sketches or stories by the author, a natural-born story teller. In this volume recounting stories connected with his hobbies of fishing and hunting Mr. Williams is most readable.

Kenneth Roberts, a companion of the author in some of his hunting and fishing experiences, writes an amusing foreword in which he casts some doubt as to the authenticity of the story The Centaurs. This is a story of wild turkey hunting in New Mexico in which the author and Mr. Roberts were participants.

In The Happy Road the first sketch in the book, Mr. Williams gives us something of his autobiography in which he tells how he first became interested in fishing. He also mentions briefly several hunting and fishing expeditions, all of which gave him material for short stories. An amusing and clever story of hunting quail in Georgia called Bob White relates the story of the dog "Old Tom" who once shot a quail and was famous also for his keen sense. In The Fog Blew Over the Mountain, a vivid story of salmon fishing in New Foundland, and The Old Men'sPool, a story of pathos, the author is at his best. Those who know only Mr. William's romances will want to read these stories in a different vein.