The Black Troopers, and other Stories. (Religions Tract Society.)— This
is a book of atones of adventure and heroism, several of which are at least based on fact, and may be said, therefore, to contain that truth which is stranger than fiction. The first deals with life in the Australian bush, the " troopers " who figure in it being black in the moat literal of senses, and is one of the most realistic tales dealing with this comparatively unknown region we have ever read, and at the same time one of the most interesting. The villain of it, a muscular and resourceful black of the name of Peel, who is a pariah and brigand, and carries on war remorselessly both against whites and against renegades of his own colour, is admirably drawn, and is really a hero, although his heroism may be misdirected. Of the other contents of this book, "A Forged Will" is, in respect of plot, the most involved; "Punt in Time" (which is a detective story) is the cleverest; and "Captain Staancey's Vow" is the most tragic, and unpleasant. One could hardly, indeed, pardon the writer of it for making the mere secondary scoundrel, tbe dupe of a genuine villain, bear all the punishment, were it not that the story is, as we learn, in all essential respects a true one. We are not quite certain, after reading what is contained in a prefatory note, that all the tales in this volume are by the same pen. If they are, the writer of them has clearly great ver- satility and power in plot-construction. And although religion per- vades certain of these stories, there is nothing forced in its appeal- ance there. On the contrary, even in the detective story the reforming and regenerating inflaence of Christianity, as in the case of Sarah, the accomplice in a robbery, seems to play a very natural part.
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