HORTENSE: A STUDY OF THE FUTURE.

By Lancelot Lakce.

Melbourne : Sands and M'Dougall.

"A Romance" is the third and last label attached to this boOjk by its author. The precaution is a wise and considerate one, since on the principle of the codicil of the will it holds the reserve of power. A Eomance is the true title for this strange extravaganza, and the sub-title should have read ''A Romance of the Future." The extravaganza opens with the arrival of an air ship on the hitherto unexplored inteiior of Lava Island. The airship has but one occupant, a young jcurnalist, Howard Homfray, who within a few hours sends the following message, accompanied by flash photographs, to a friend in Sydney. From there the news is distributed over the world by the following morning: — "Startling discovery! I have found the interior of Lava Island (an elongated amphitheatre with a central waterway) to be inhabited by people of European descent. They are the survivors and descendants of emigrants who left 'Frisco in the year 1902 in the ship Nemesis chartered to convey a select party of emigrants to Xew Arcadia. The ship struck this rock on a dark night, lost her masts, and finally was sucked by the inflowing tide through a narrow and dangerous tunnel, connecting with this interior waterway. The survivors having succeeded in saving almost their entire outfit within a short time had made themselves comfortable horries." The most prominent male character in the book, Alan Edgecumbe, is the one of these Lava Islanders who, striking up a friendship with Howard Homfray. leaves his quaint home for the outer world as Homfray's guest and fellow passenger in the air ship. A suitable indication of the delicious extravagance of the plot may be found in the following incident, which occurs during Edgecumbe's first day in Auckland, New Zealand. Eangitoto Island has been converted into a national park and zoological gardens — hundreds of acres are entirely devoted to the larger carnivora. From one of the light stages erected in order to allow the public to. watch the animals feeding, on the summit of the high wall of cemented la\a blocks which surrounds the tiger jungle, Edgecumbe sees a lady's scarlet parasol borne by an eddy of the wind into a great pohutakawa tree. With the foolhardiness born of ignorance he rapidly descends to the enclosure, and making a run for the pohutakawa tree finds himself pursued by an immense tiger. With a desperate bound he reaches the lower branches, only, to be followed by the tiger, who, however, is precipitated to the ground by his great weight shattering the buugh on which he alights. Meanwhile a number of aerials (air ships) have congregated, attracted to the spot by the cries and shouts of the excited crowds. At this moment a lady in a splendidly equipped car suddenly 6woops down and, by skilful manoeuvring, enables the young n^an to leap into her aerial, thus rescuing lim from his perilous position. This much-daring young woman, Hortense Pelham, is the heroine of the extravaganza. Her accomplishments are as \aned as they are unusual, and her achievements in ecience as remarkable as her social successes, brilliant fortune, and perfect beauty. She falls violently and passionately in love with Edgecumbe. That ungrateful and somewhat priggish young man, having already bestowed hie wellregulated affections on an unknown lady, whom later he meets and is introduced to as Viola Colonna, proves insensible to the attractions of Hortense. From this 'theme of a woman's disappointed passion is evoked the principal motif of the plot. As to the richly imaginathe situations which form a part of the romance of the future, they are too numerous to do more than hint at. Thus : — Edgecumbe is so fortunate as to rescue from footpads the distinguished Chinese Admiral, Hung Chang, who becomes his friend and patron. In an exciting international struggle for the sculling championship the event lies at last between the American, Chinese, and Australian representatives, this last being none other than the notable Hortense Pelham, who conies in the winner, distancing alike the American and Chinese scullers. Maddened L>y Edgecumbe'.s indifference, this remarkable young w< man blows her line mansion to atoms by a chemical explosion, in order to eive the impression of her own death. Ultimately bhe is discovered as the Sorceress Queen of a warlike tribe of Arabs, whom her wit and wisdom have guided to a pinnacle of success among their predatory neighbours. Here, meeting Edgecumbe once more and overwhelmed with a conviction of the emptiness of life without lo\e. she incinerates herself by a patent process of her own invention, and — exit Hortense, and romance.