The Rustler. By Frances McElrath. (Funk and Wagnalls 6s.) — This is
rather a disappointing book. After a most promising opening, the story suddenly takes a turn for the bad. Hazel Clifford, the heroine, conducts herself with a deliberate and cold-blooded coquetry which makes it impossible for the reader to take any further interest in her affairs ; while Jem, the cowboy hero, turns into a "rustler," which in plain English may be termed a cattle thief, without one moment's hesitation, on dis- covering her heartlessness. No one remains to keep up the main interest of the story, which has therefore to depend on its picturesque auxiliaries. Descriptions of life in the Western States are not in themselves enough to rivet the reader's attention, and the book has really very little else to recom- mend it, as the characters are decidedly wooden and mechanical in their evil doings. It is perhaps ungrateful to judge a story more harshly because of a good opening ; but if an author sets a high standard in the early chapters, it is inevitable that the reader should feel aggrieved at a subsequent falling off of interest.
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