atedly declared
that he owed the traitor a debt, which he intended to settle the very
first time he met him; but when he saw what a wretched condition Arthur
was in, he relented, and pitied him from the bottom of his heart.

Joaquin was sent to San Diego to be dealt with according to law, and
Arthur went home. He did not remain there long; but, as soon as he was
able to travel, started for Kentucky, and every one was glad that he had
gone.

Frank and Archie could tell stories now that were worth listening to.
They had seen exciting times since their arrival in California, had
been the heroes of some thrilling adventures, and they never got weary
of talking over the incidents that transpired during their captivity
AMONG THE RANCHEROS.

THE END.

THE JOHN C. WINSTON CO.'S POPULAR JUVENILES.

J.T. TROWBRIDGE.

Neither as a writer does he stand apart from the great currents of life
and select some exceptional phase or odd combination of circumstances.
He stands on the common level and appeals to the universal heart, and
all that he suggests or achieves is on the plane and in the line of
march of the great body of humanity.

The Jack Hazard series of stories, published in the late _Our Young
Folks_, and continued in the first volume of _St. Nicholas_, under the
title of "Fast Friends," is no doubt destined to hold a high place in
this class of literature. The delight of the boys in them (and of their
seniors, too) is well founded. They go to the right spot every time.
Trowbridge knows the heart of a boy like a book, and the heart of a man,
too, and he has laid them both open in these books in a most successful
manner. Apart from the qualities that render the series so attractive to
all young readers, they have great value on account of their
portraitures of American country life and character. The drawing is
wonderfully accurate, and as spirited as it is true. The constable,
Sellick, is an original character, and as minor figures where will we
find anything better than Miss Wansey, and Mr. P. Pipkin, Esq. The
picture of Mr. Dink's school, too, is capital, and where else in fiction
is there a better nick-name than that the boys gave to poor little
Stephen Treadwell, "Step Hen," as he himself pronounced his name in an
unfortunate moment when he saw it in print for the first time in his
lesson in school.

On the whole, these books are very satisfactory, and afford the critical
reader the rare pleasure of th