The Barefoot Mailman

ALL the conventions of frontier melodrama, from the simple hero to the good but alcoholic Indian, are observed in this novel with a charm which makes them seem not only fresh but natural as daylight. The barefoot mailman walked the uninhabited sand between Miami and Palm Beach before railroads and civilization invaded Florida. Mr, Pratt’s hero becomes involved with a girl disguised as a boy, a Northern land boomer, a gang of beachcombers, and some alligators, and emerges triumphant from the confusion. Steven’s adventures are told with beguiling good humor, and are set in brilliant, loving descriptions of the Florida coast, calculated to make any reader rush for the nearest beach to take off his shoes and hunt sea shells.