The Bishop's Secret by Fergus Hume, Author of "The Mystery of a Hansom Cab," "For the Defense," "The Harlequin Opal," "The Girl from Malta," Etc
THE BISHOP'S SECRET BY FERGUS HUME, AUTHOR OF "THE MYSTERY OF A HANSOM CAB," "FOR THE DEFENSE," "THE HARLEQUIN OPAL," "THE GIRL FROM MALTA," ETC. CHICAGO AND NEW YORK: RAND, McNALLY & COMPANY, PUBLISHERS. Copyright, 1900, by Rand, McNally & Co. Copyright, 1906, by Rand, McNally & Co. PREFACE. In his earlier works, notably in "The Mystery of a Hansom Cab" and "The Silent House in Pimlico," Mr. Hume won a reputation second to none for plot of the stirring, ingenious, misleading, and finally surprising kind, and for working out his plot in vigorous and picturesque English. In "The Bishop's Secret," while there is no falling off in plot and style, there is a welcome and marvelous broadening out as to the cast of characters, representing an unusually wide range of typical men and women. These are not laboriously described by the author, but are made to reveal themselves in action and speech in a way that has, for the reader, all the charm of personal intercourse with living people. Mr. Hume's treatment of the peculiar and exclusive ecclesiastical society of a small English cathedral city is quite worthy of Anthony Trollope, and his leading character, Bishop Pendle, is equal to Trollope's best bishop. The Reverend Mr. Cargrim, the Bishop's poor and most unworthy protegè, is a meaner Uriah Heep. Mrs. Pansey is the embodiment of all shrewishness, and yields unlimited amusement. The Gypsies are genuine—such as George Borrow, himself, would have pictured them— not the ignorant caricatures so frequently drawn by writers too lazy to study their subject.
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