In the Heart of the Rookies. By G. A. Henty.
(Mackie and Son.)—The hero of the story, Tom Wade, is early left an orphan, and having received an invitation to pay his uncle in Colorado a visit, elects to go out to him. A stirring narrative of his adven- tures follows, mid from chapter to chapter Mr. Henty leads us on, through dangers of all sorts, including a descent of the Grand Carlon. The description of the continual fighting with the Indians gives a vivid idea of the kind of warfare that the pioneers of thirty years ago waged against the relentless Sioux and Navahoes. Mr. Plenty is inclined to make his characters talk too much; and interesting and instructive as the dialogue invariably is, we may remark that so much talk is particularly out of place in representing life in the Wild West. The pioneers and Indian fighters have the proverbial belief that if speech is silver, silence- is most certainly golden ; and Mr. Henty makes them speak more in the course of one chapter than they do in the coarse of their natural lives. But boys would miss much if these enter- taining dialogues were omitted, for the author conveys an astonishing amount of information and facts, all bearing, indeed,. on the narrative and the circumstances of a traveller's life iii the West. The characters are as good as ever ; perhaps the best are the two Indians, Leaping Horse and his son, Hunting Dog, who. are endowed with all the craft of war, and do not lack the romantic halo of Cooper's heroes. The story moves briskly, and boys will be fascinated with the thrilling adventures of Tom, Wade and his uncle, Straight Harry. Mr. Henty is as good a story-teller as ever, and no book will please more than Is Me Heart of the Rockies.
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