CONCLUSION.
When Julian had fairly settled down to tell his story, which he did by
crossing his right leg over his left leg and clasping his hands around
his knee, he discovered that there was not so much to be told as he
had thought for. His adventure with the robbers was nothing more than
might have happened to any one of the miners who were standing around
him; the only question in his mind was, would the other miner have
fared as well as he did?
"They came to our mine and stole our dust; but I don't see how they
found out about the full bag. Mr. Banta told us to be careful about
that."
"Why, Mr. Banta told it himself!" remarked one of the miners. "He said
you had a bagful hidden away."
"You see, he had to do it, or the men here would have become
suspicions and gone up to your mine in a body," explained another. "Go
on--what next?"
"They took the full bag, as well as the half-empty one, and told us we
would have to go with them on a three days' journey into the
mountains, so as to keep you fellows here in ignorance of the robbery
as long as possible but they took us only a two days' journey, and
then told us we had gone far enough. That's all there was of it."
"Is that all you have to tell?" asked one.
"Well, no. They went away from here on horseback, you said. Now, what
did they do with their animals? They were on foot when they came to
see us, and they never said 'horses' once during the two days we were
with them."
"Probably they rode their horses as far as they could, and then killed
them."
"No doubt they pushed them over a bluff," said a man who had not
spoken before.
"We did not see any horses; of that much we are certain. The only
thing I can't see into is, what they did with Claus after we went
away. Of course they agreed to give him a portion of the money they
got off us."
"Maybe so, but I don't think they did it. Go on--how did they treat
you?"
"As well as they knew how," answered Julian, emphatically. "That is
the reason why I hope Mr. Banta will be kind to them if he catches
them."
"Well, you'll see how he'll treat them," retorted a miner. "You'll
never see those three men again."
Julian became uneasy every time the men spoke of the way the miners
would use their prisoners if they found them, but he knew it would be
of no use to say a word. If anything was done to them, he was in hopes
the miners would get through with it before they came to camp. He was
not used to any Western way of dealing with criminals, and he thought
he was getting too old to become used to it now.
This was the way Julian told his story, in answer to numerous
questions of the miners, who finally heard all they wanted to know. In
regard to what had happened to Claus, none of the miners had any
idea. He did not get any of the dust that was stolen from the boys,
and he would be lucky if he got away with a dollar in his pocket.
"Do you know, I have been on the watch for them fellows to get into a
squabble of some kind before we saw the last of them?" remarked a
miner. "That Bob was a regular thief--one could tell that by looking
at him. The short, pursy fellow--you called him Claus, didn't
you?--looked like a gentleman; but his face did not bear out his good
clothes."
The miners then slowly dispersed, one after the other,--some to their
work, and some to lounge in front of the grocery, smoking their
pipes,--and the boys were left to themselves. Their first care was to
get something to eat, for they had not had a sufficient quantity of
food, the bacon and hard-tack they first put into their blankets
having disappeared until there was none left. Provisions were handy in
Mr. Banta's cabin, and when they had got fairly to work on it they
heard a sound from the miners whom they had left outside.
"Here they come!" shouted a voice. "Now we'll see what will be done
with those prisoners!"
The boys looked at each other in blank amazement. They had caught the
robbers, so their dust was safe; but what were they going to do with
the culprits, now that they had captured them?
"I declare," said another miner, at length, "they haven't brought any
prisoners with them! And there's Tony, with his arm tied up in a
sling!"
The boys had by this time reached the door, and saw Mr. Banta,
accompanied by a dozen miners, ride into the camp. The boys looked
closely at them, but could not see anybody that looked like Bob and
Jake; but Tony did not seem to have left all the fight there was in
him up in the mountains, for he raised his rifle and flourished it
over his head.
"Halloo! Mr. Banta," shouted Julian. "You meant to catch them, did
you? But I guess you came out at the little end of the horn."
"Well, there!" exclaimed Mr. Banta, stopping his horse and addressing
himself to his men; "didn't I tell you those boys would come back all
right? Put it there, kids!"
Julian and Jack shook hands with all the returning miners before they
saw an opportunity to propound any other questions; and then, when
they did ask them, they did not get any satisfactory answers.
"Did you get our dust?" asked Jack.
"Yes, sir! And the men--ah!" said Mr. Banta, who stopped and looked
around at the miners as if he hardly knew what to say next.
"Well, what about the men?" inquired Julian. "You saw them, of
course."
"Oh, yes, we saw the men; and when we asked them where the dust was
that they stole down here at the haunted mine, they took it out of
their clothes and gave it to us. Ain't that so, boys?"
The men around him nodded their heads emphatically, as if to say their
leader had told nothing but the truth, but there was something in
their faces that told a different story. The boys concluded they
would ask no more questions while Mr. Banta was around, but when he
went away they were sure they would get at the truth of the matter.
"And, Julian, there's your money," continued Mr. Banta, who had been
trying to take something out of his coat-pocket. "There is the full
bag, and there is the other. The next time I leave you with such an
amount of money to take care of, I'll give you my head for a
football."
"Why, Mr. Banta, _you_ told them all about this!" asserted Jack,
laughingly.
"No, I never!" shouted Mr. Banta.
"Didn't you tell the men what we had done and all about the dust we
had?" asked Julian. "You _did_ tell them, and the robbers were sitting
by the camp-fire, and heard it all."
"Eh? Oh, well--I did say--I could not well help it--let us go into the
cabin and see what you have to eat."
Mr. Banta lost no time in getting into the cabin, for the boys had
asked a question he could not answer, and when they followed him in he
was engaged in filling his pipe.
"We rode to the haunted mine and found you were not there, so we came
back and took the upper trail on the way to Mendota," said the miner,
talking rapidly, as if he hoped to shut off any questions the boys
might have ready to ask him. "We had a good time. We found the men
there and asked them for the money, and they gave it over as peaceable
and quiet as could be. Now, don't let us hear any more about it. You
know the whole of the story. Is this all you have to ease a man's
appetite? Why, I could eat it all myself!"
"That's a funny story," whispered Jack, as he and Julian went to the
spring after a bucket of water.
"Well, keep still," said Julian. "He told us not to say anything more
about it, and that's just the same as an order. We'll get the straight
of the matter yet."
"Who will you go to?"
"We'll go to Tony for it. He was the man who was shot in the fracas,
and he will tell us all about it."
It was two days before Julian had an opportunity to speak to Tony in
private. Tony's right arm was injured so badly that he could not use
a shovel, and the boys volunteered to go down in his mine and help
him--a voluntary act on their part which gained them the good-will of
all the miners. One day, when Tony was sitting by his mine smoking his
pipe and Julian was waiting for Jack to fill up their bucket, the
latter thought the chance had come, for Tony was unusually talkative
that morning.
"Now, there is no need that you should keep this thing away from us
any longer," said Julian, suddenly. "Who shot those two men?"
Tony was taken off his guard and looked all around as if he was
waiting for some one to suggest an answer. Finally he took off his hat
and dug his fingers into his hair.
"Who said anything about shooting a man?" he asked.
"No one has said anything about it this morning, but I just want to
know if everything I suspect is true," answered Julian, with his eyes
fastened on Tony's face.
"Some one who was there can't keep his mouth shut," remarked Tony, in
great disgust. "Mr. Banta said he didn't want you to know anything
about it, and here that man has gone and blowed the whole thing! But
you'll remember that I didn't say a word about it--won't you?"
"No one shall ever know what you tell me," asserted Julian. "Did you
shoot them?"
"Well, I couldn't help it--could I? We came up with them just before
we got to Mendota. We rode right plump onto them before we knew it,
and without saying a word they began to shoot. If they had had rifles,
some of us would have gone under; but they had nothing but revolvers,
and the first thing I knew something went slap through my arm, and I
began to shoot, too. I got in two shots while you would be thinking
about it, and then Mr. Banta looked through their clothes and got the
dust. We went down to Mendota and reported the matter to the sheriff,
and he sent up and buried them."
"It is a wonder to me that they didn't arrest you," said Julian.
"Who--me? What did I do? The men were shooting at us, and I was
defending myself. It would have taken more men than they had there to
arrest me, for any man would have done the same. Anyhow, we got your
money back. Say! Don't lisp a word of this to Mr. Banta. He would go
for me hot and heavy."
Julian was obliged to promise again that Mr. Banta should never hear a
word of what Tony had told him; but that night he told it to Jack, who
said that his "funny story" had come out just as he thought it would.
"You said you didn't want them to deal with the culprits here in camp,
and you have your wish," said Jack.
Not long after that the miners, discouraged, packed up, by companies
of half a dozen or more, bid good-bye to their associates, and struck
out for other localities. Dutch Flat was "played out," there was no
gold there for them, and they were going where they could do better.
Some of them talked of going home, while others, whose "piles" were
not quite as large as they wished, were going to try it again for
another year. Mr. Banta lingered there for some time, and then he,
too, astonished the boys by bringing up his tools and telling them
that next day he would strike for Denver.
"And when I get there I don't think I shall stop," said he. "I have
been away from my home in the granite hills so long that I won't know
how to act when I get there, and I can't learn any younger than I can
now. I am going as far as St. Louis with you, and then I shall strike
off alone."
This put new life into the boys. As soon as it became known in camp
that Mr. Banta was going away, a dozen others joined in with his
party, and when they rode away from the camp the few miners who were
left behind cheered themselves hoarse. The boys had been "to the
mines," had met with some adventures while there, and they were ready
to go back among civilized people once more.
Their stay in Denver did not last more than a week, and the boys were
made to promise, over and over again, that after they had seen their
friends in St. Louis they would go back there to live. Everything
they had in the world was there, the Western country seemed to agree
with them, and there they would remain. They had not yet completed
their course at the business school, and when that was done they must
look for some useful occupation in which to spend their lives.
Mr. Banta proved that he had some money in the bank before he had been
in Denver two days. The boys left him at his old hotel, clad in a
miner's suit, and looking altogether, as he expressed it, "like a
low-down tramp," and when they saw him again they could hardly
recognize him. The barber had been at work on him, the tailor had done
his best to fit him out; but the squeeze he gave their hands proved
that he was the same "old Banta" still. The boys never forgot him; his
kindness had saved them many a dollar.
After taking leave of Mr. Banta at St. Louis the boys took up their
quarters at a leading hotel, and for two weeks devoted themselves to
calling upon their friends. As they signed their names to the register
Julian whispered,
"I have often thought, while I have been carrying messages here in the
city and looked into this hotel while hurrying past it, that the men
who could put up at a first-class house like this must be a happy lot,
and now I have a chance to see how it goes myself. Jack, let us go
down and have a glass of soda water. Why don't you grumble about that
the way you did the last time we were here?"
But Jack did not feel like grumbling--he was too happy for that. He
did not think, while he was finding fault with Julian for the wages he
had spent at the express office in buying 'old horse,' that he was one
whose fortunes hung upon the letter that was to tell him about The
Haunted Mine.
THE END.
THE JOHN C. WINSTON CO.'S POPULAR JUVENILES.
HARRY CASTLEMON.
HOW I CAME TO WRITE MY FIRST BOOK.
When I was sixteen years old I belonged to a composition class. It was
our custom to go on the recitation seat every day with clean slates,
and we were allowed ten minutes to write seventy words on any subject
the teacher thought suited to our capacity. One day he gave out "What
a Man Would See if He Went to Greenland." My heart was in the matter,
and before the ten minutes were up I had one side of my slate filled.
The teacher listened to the reading of our compositions, and when they
were all over he simply said: "Some of you will make your living by
writing one of these days." That gave me something to ponder upon. I
did not say so out loud, but I knew that my composition was as good as
the best of them. By the way, there was another thing that came in my
way just then. I was reading at that time one of Mayne Reid's works
which I had drawn from the library, and I pondered upon it as much as
I did upon what the teacher said to me. In introducing Swartboy to his
readers he made use of this expression: "No visible change was
observable in Swartboy's countenance." Now, it occurred to me that if
a man of his education could make such a blunder as that and still
write a book, I ought to be able to do it, too. I went home that very
day and began a story, "The Old Guide's Narrative," which was sent to
the _New York Weekly_, and came back, respectfully declined. It was
written on both sides of the sheets but I didn't know that this was
against the rules. Nothing abashed, I began another, and receiving
some instruction, from a friend of mine who was a clerk in a book
store, I wrote it on only one side of the paper. But mind you, he
didn't know what I was doing. Nobody knew it; but one day, after a
hard Saturday's work--the other boys had been out skating on the
brick-pond--I shyly broached the subject to my mother. I felt the need
of some sympathy. She listened in amazement, and then said: "Why, do
you think you could write a book like that?" That settled the matter,
and from that day no one knew what I was up to until I sent the first
four volumes of Gunboat Series to my father. Was it work? Well, yes;
it was hard work, but each week I had the satisfaction of seeing the
manuscript grow until the "Young Naturalist" was all complete.--_Harry
Castlemon in the Writer._
GUNBOAT SERIES.
6 vols. BY HARRY CASTLEMON. $6.00
Frank the Young Naturalist.
Frank on a Gunboat.
Frank in the Woods.
Frank before Vicksburg.
Frank on the Lower Mississippi.
Frank on the Prairie.
ROCKY MOUNTAIN SERIES.
3 vols. BY HARRY CASTLEMON. $3.00
Frank Among the Rancheros.
Frank in the Mountains.
Frank at Don Carlos' Rancho.
SPORTSMAN'S CLUB SERIES.
3 vols. BY HARRY CASTLEMON. $3.75
The Sportsman's Club in the Saddle.
The Sportsman's Club Afloat.
The Sportsman's Club Among the Trappers.
FRANK NELSON SERIES.
3 vols. BY HARRY CASTLEMON. $3.75
Snowed up.
Frank in the Forecastle.
The Boy Traders.
ROUGHING IT SERIES.
3 vols. BY HARRY CASTLEMON. $3.00
George in Camp.
George at the Fort.
George at the Wheel.
ROD AND GUN SERIES.
3 vols. BY HARRY CASTLEMON. $3.00
Don Gordon's Shooting Box.
The Young Wild Fowlers.
Rod and Gun Club.
GO-AHEAD SERIES.
3 vols. BY HARRY CASTLEMON. $3.00
Tom Newcombe.
Go-Ahead.
No Moss.
WAR SERIES.
6 vols. BY HARRY CASTLEMON. $6.00
True to His Colors.
Marcy the Blockade-Runner.
Rodney the Partisan.
Marcy the Refugee.
Rodney the Overseer.
Sailor Jack the Trader.
HOUSEBOAT SERIES.
3 vols. BY HARRY CASTLEMON. $3.00
The Houseboat Boys.
The Mystery of Lost River Canyon.
The Young Game Warden.
AFLOAT AND ASHORE SERIES.
3 vols. BY HARRY CASTLEMON. $3.00
Rebellion in Dixie.
A Sailor in Spite of Himself.
The Ten-Ton Cutter.
COMPLETE CATALOG OF BEST BOOKS FOR BOYS AND GIRLS
MAILED ON APPLICATION TO THE PUBLISHERS
THE JOHN C. WINSTON CO., PHILADELPHIA
The Roundabout Library For Young People
THIS WELL-KNOWN SERIES OF BOOKS is recognized as the best library of
Copyright Books for young people, sold at popular prices.
THE AUTHORS represented in the Roundabout Library are not only the
best well-known writers of juvenile literature, but the titles listed
comprise the best writings of these authors,
OVER 100 TITLES are now in this Library and all new titles will be
selected with the same care as in the past, for stories that are not
only entertaining but equally _instructive_ and _elevating_. This
respect for wholesome juvenile literature is what has made and kept
_the Roundabout Library better than any other library of books for
Boys and Girls_.
OUR AIM is to maintain the supremacy of these books over all others
_from every viewpoint_, and to make the superior features so apparent
that those who have once read one, will always return to the
Roundabout Library for more.
_Bound in Extra cloth, with gold title and appropriate cover
designs stamped in colors, attractive and durable, printed
on the best paper from large clear type. Illustrated, 12mo._
PRICE PER. VOLUME, $.75
Catalogue mailed on application to the Publishers.
THE JOHN C. WINSTON CO., Publishers
PHILADELPHIA
ROUNDABOUT LIBRARY
FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
Selected from the works of Alger, Castlemon, Ellis, Stephens, Henty,
Mrs. Lillie and other writers.
Price, per volume, $0.75
=Across Texas.= By Edward S. Ellis.
=Adventures in Canada; or, Life in the Woods.= By John C.
Geikie.
=Alison's Adventures.= By Lucy C. Lillie.
=American Family Robinson, The; or, The Adventures of a
Family Lost in the Great Desert of the West.= By W. D.
Belisle.
=Bear Hunters of the Rocky Mountains, The.= By Anne Bowman.
=Ben's Nugget; or, A Boy's Search for a Fortune.= By Horatio
Alger, Jr.
=Bob Burton; or, the Young Ranchman of the Missouri.= By
Horatio Alger, Jr.
=Bonnie Prince Charlie; A Tale of Fontenoy and Culloden.= By
G. A. Henty.
=Brave Billy.= By Edward S. Ellis.
=Brave Tom; or, The Battle that Won.= By Edward S. Ellis.
=By England's Aid; or, The Freeing of the Netherlands
(1585-1604).= By G. A. Henty.
=By Pike and Dyke; A Tale of the Rise of the Dutch Republic.=
By G. A. Henty.
=By Right of Conquest; or, With Cortez in Mexico.= By G. A.
Henty.
=By Love's Sweet Rule.= By Gabrielle Emelie Jackson.
=Cabin in the Clearing, The.= A Tale of the Frontier. By
Edward S. Ellis.
=Camping Out, As Recorded by "Kit."= By C. A. Stephens.
=Camp in the Foothills, The.= By Harry Castlemon.
=Cornet of Horse, The.= A Tale of Marlborough's Wars By G. A.
Henty.
=Cruise of the Firefly.= By Edward S. Ellis.
=Dear Days, A Story of Washington School Life.= By Ada Mickle.
=Diccon the Bold.= A Story of the Days of Columbus. By John
Russell Coryell.
=Do and Dare; or, A Brave Boy's Fight for Fortune.= By Horatio
Alger, Jr.
=Dog Crusoe, The. A Tale of the Western Prairies.= By R. M.
Ballantyne.
=Dog of Cotopaxi, The.= By Hezekiah Butterworth.
=Doris and Theodora.= By Margaret Vandegrift.
=Dr. Gilbert's Daughters.= By Margaret H. Matthews.
=Dragon and the Raven, The; or, The Days of King Alfred.= By
G. A. Henty.
=Elam Storm, the Wolfer; or, The Lost Nugget.= By Harry
Castlemon.
=Elinor Belden; or, The Step Brothers.= By Lucy C. Lillie.
=Esther's Fortune.= By Lucy C. Lillie.
=Floating Treasure.= By Harry Castlemon.
=Four Little Indians.= By Ella Mary Coates.
=Family Dilemma.= By Lucy C. Lillie.
=Floating Light of the Goodwin Sands, The.= By R. M.
Ballantyne.
=For Honor's Sake.= By Lucy C. Lillie.
=Four Boys; or, The Story of the Forest Fire.= By Edward S.
Ellis.
=Fox Hunting, As Recorded by "Raed."= By C. A. Stephens.
=Freaks on the Fells.= By R. M. Ballantyne.
=Gascoyne, the Sandalwood Trader.= By R. M. Ballantyne.
=Girl's Ordeal, A.= By Lucy C. Lillie
=Gorilla Hunters, The.= By R. M. Ballantyne.
=Great Cattle Trail, The.= By Edward S. Ellis.
=Hunt on Snow Shoes, A.= By Edward S. Ellis.
=Hartwell Farm, The.= By Elizabeth B. Comins.
=Hector's Inheritance; or, The Boys of Smith Institute.= By
Horatio Alger, Jr.
=Helen Glenn; or, My Mother's Enemy.= By Lucy C. Lillie.
=Helping Himself; or, Grant Thornton's Ambition.= By Horatio
Alger, Jr.
=Honest Ned.= By Edward S. Ellis.
=Haunted Mine, The.= By Harry Castlemon.
=In Freedom's Cause.= A Story of Wallace and Bruce. By G. A.
Henty.
=In the Reign of Terror; The Adventures of a Westminster Boy.=
By G. A. Henty.
=Jack Midwood; or, Bread Cast Upon the Waters.= By Edward S.
Ellis.
=Joe Wayring at Home; or, The Adventures of a Fly Rod.= By
Harry Castlemon.
=Kangaroo Hunters, The; or, Adventures in the Bush.= By Anne
Bowman.
=King's Rubies, The.= By Adelaide Fulaer Bell.
=Lady Green Satin.= By Baroness Deschesnez.
=Left on Labrador; or, The Cruise of the Yacht "Curlew."= By
C. A. Stephens.
=Lena Wingo, the Mohawk.= By Edward S. Ellis.
=Lenny, the Orphan.= By Margaret Hosmer.
=Lion of the North. The; A Tale of the Times of Gustavus
Adolphus.= By G. A. Henty.
=Luke Walton; or, The Chicago Newsboy.= By Horatio Alger, Jr.
=Lynx Hunting.= By C. A. Stephens.
=Limber Lew, the Circus King.= By Edward S. Ellis.
=Marion Berkley.= By Elizabeth B. Comins.
=Missing Pocket-Book, The.= By Harry Castlemon.
=Mysterious Andes, The.= By Hezekiah Butterworth.
=Northern Lights.= Stories from Swedish and Finnish Authors.
=Off to the Geysers; or, The Young Yachters in Iceland.= By C.
A. Stephens.
=On the Amazon; or, The Cruise of the "Rambler."= By C. A.
Stephens.
=On the Trail of the Moose.= By Edward S. Ellis.
=Orange and Green; A Tale of the Boyne and Limerick.= By G. A.
Henty.
=Oscar in Africa.= By Harry Castlemon.
=Our Boys in Panama.= By Hezekiah Butterworth.
=Our Fellows; or, Skirmishes with the Swamp Dragoons.= By
Harry Castlemon.
=Path in the Ravine, The.= By Edward S. Ellis.
=Plucky Dick; or, Sowing and Reaping.= By Edward S. Ellis.
=Queen's Body Guard, The.= By Margaret Vandegrift
=Question of Honor.= By Lynde Palmer.
=Righting the Wrong.= By Edward S. Ellis.
=River Fugitives, The.= By Edward S. Ellis.
=Romain Kalbris.= His Adventures by Sea and Shore. Translated
from the French of Hector Malot.
=Rose Raymond's Wards.= By Margaret Vandegrift.
=Ruth Endicott's Way.= By Lucy C. Lillie.
=Shifting Winds; A Story of the Sea.= By R. M. Ballantyne.
=Snagged and Sunk; or, The Adventures of a Canvas Canoe.= By
Harry Castlemon.
=Squire's Daughter, The.= By Lucy C. Lillie.
=Steel Horse, The; or, The Rambles of a Bicycle.= By Harry
Castlemon.
=Store Boy, The; or, The Fortunes of Ben Barclay.= By Horatio
Alger, Jr.
=Storm Mountain.= By Edward S. Ellis.
=Struggling Upward; or, Luke Larkin's Luck.= By Horatio Alger,
Jr.
=Tam; or, Holding the Fort.= By Edward S. Ellis.
=Through Forest and Fire.= By Edward S. Ellis.
=True to the Old Flag; A Tale of the American War of
Independence.= By G. A. Henty.
=Two Bequests, The; or, Heavenward Led.= By Jane R. Sommers.
=Two Ways of Becoming a Hunter.= By Harry Castlemon.
=Under Drake's Flag. A Tale of the Spanish Main.= By G. A.
Henty.
=Under the Holly.= By Margaret Hosmer.
=Under the Red Flag; or, The Adventures of Two American Boys
in the Days of the Commune.= By Edward King.
=Ways and Means.= By Margaret Vandegrift.
=Where Honor Leads.= By Lynde Palmer.
=Wilderness Fugitives, The.= By Edward S. Ellis.
=Wild Man of the West, The.= By R. M. Ballantyne.
=With Clive in India; or, The Beginning of an Empire.= By G.
A. Henty.
=With Wolfe in Canada; or, The Winning of a Continent.= By G.
A. Henty.
=Wyoming.= By Edward S. Ellis.
=Young Adventurer, The; Tom's Trip Across the Plains.= By
Horatio Alger, Jr.
=Young Circus Rider, The.= By Horatio Alger, Jr.
=Young Conductor, The; or, Winning His Way.= By Edward S.
Ellis.
=Young Explorer, The; or, Among the Sierras.= By Horatio
Alger, Jr.
=Young Miner, The; or, Tom Nelson in California.= By Horatio
Alger, Jr.
=Young Ranchers, The; or, Fighting the Sioux.= By Edward S.
Ellis.
=Young Wreckers The.= By Richard Meade Bache.
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 the works that are just adequate,
that easily fulfill themselves and accomplish all they set out to
do.--_Scribner's Monthly._
THE JOHN C. WINSTON CO.'S POPULAR JUVENILES.
JACK HAZARD SERIES.
6 vols. By J. T. TROWBRIDGE $7.25
Jack Hazard and His Fortunes
The Young Surveyor.
Fast Friends.
Doing His Best.
A Chance for Himself.
Lawrence's Adventures.
CHARLES ASBURY STEPHENS.
This author wrote his "Camping Out Series" at the very height of his
mental and physical powers.
"We do not wonder at the popularity of these books; there is
a freshness and variety about them, and an enthusiasm in the
description of sport and adventure, which even the older
folk can hardly fail to share."--_Worcester Spy._
"The author of the Camping Out Series is entitled to rank as
decidedly at the head of what may be called boys'
literature."--_Buffalo Courier._
CAMPING OUT SERIES.
By C. A. STEPHENS.
All books in this series are 12mo. with eight full page illustrations.
Cloth, extra, 75 cents.
CAMPING OUT. As Recorded by "Kit."
"This book is bright, breezy, wholesome, instructive, and
stands above the ordinary boys' books of the day by a whole
head and shoulders."--_The Christian Register_, BOSTON.
LEFT ON LABRADOR; OR, THE CRUISE OF THE SCHOONER YACHT "CURLEW." As
Recorded by "Wash."
"The perils of the voyagers, the narrow escapes, their
strange expedients, and the fun and jollity when danger had
passed, will make boys even unconscious of hunger."--_New
Bedford Mercury._
OFF TO THE GEYSERS; OR THE YOUNG YACHTERS IN ICELAND. As Recorded by
"Wade."
"It is difficult to believe that Wade and Read and Kit and
Wash were not live boys, sailing up Hudson Straits, and
reigning temporarily over an Esquimaux tribe."--_The
Independent_, New York.
LYNX HUNTING: From Notes by the Author of "Camping Out."
"Of _first quality_ as a boys' book, and fit to take its
place beside the best."--_Richmond Enquirer._
FOX HUNTING. As Recorded by "Raed."
"The most spirited and entertaining book that has as yet
appeared. It overflows with incident, and is characterized
by dash and brilliancy throughout."--_Boston Gazette._
ON THE AMAZON; OR, THE CRUISE OF THE "RAMBLER." As Recorded by "Wash."
"Gives vivid pictures of Brazilian adventure and
scenery."--_Buffalo Courier._