GERRIT AND THE ORGAN

Hilda van Stockum's books are almost irresistibly lovely looking, but the texts have been uneven in quality. This I like best of anything she has done. It is the story of the small grandson of the old toymender, and of the adventures that befell him when he undertook to be -- secretly -- the friend and guardian of the cranky old organgrinder. The period is the childhood of Queen Wilhelmins; and the Dutch street scenes and the sense of the different types of people are well handled. A good story, without too much moral.