Red Men and White. By Owen Wister. (Osgood, McIlvaine, and
Co.)—" These eight stories," says the author in his preface, are made from our Western Frontier as it was in a past as near as yesterday and almost as bygone as the Revolution." The scene is laid in Arizona, where, it would seem, man is, or was, vile, though the prospect can scarcely be said to please. Mr. Wister gives us powerful narratives of adventure with " road- agents " and Indians, in gambling saloons and mails, which the adventurous dwellers in those parts "hold up" when they think it worth while, and in a variety of other places and among other people, different indeed but scarcely more attractive. Sometimes, as in "Salvation Gap," the tragedy is of the most sombre kind. Judge Lynch in this does justice after his manner, very rude indeed, but still justice. "The General's Bluff" is a passage from the career of General Crook, and is, perhaps, the most pleasing reading in the book; but " pleasing " is not exactly the adjective one would choose for this story, far less does it suit the rest.
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