TWO OF A KIND

A fine follow-up to Swamp Water, which had a good critical reception and not as good a sale as it deserved. This is a direct, dramatic, tensed story of a derelict and his dog, Judas, the dog his boss didn't want, a black-hearted, bull-headed, killer of a hound. The one thing Duff can do well is train dogs, and he gets a job with a veteran pointer fancier, Hawthorne. There are two girls in the story, and both of them love him --Julie, Hawthorne's granddaughter, and Delia, whom he marries. There is much of the hold of the James Street dog stories, with less sentiment, more brutality, and a decisive fascination as the story unfolds, with its pattern of field trials, the kennels, and the rivalry between two potentially great dogs.