The queen of the Ranche. By Emma E. and J.
L. Hornibrook. (Griffith, Ferran, and Co.)-'--Colonel Neville's nephew and heir takes the liberty of killing one of his uncle's stags,—apparently for no better reason than that he has been dared to do it. He is promptly turned out of the house, and emigrates to the States. Travelling out to the West, he falls in with a certain rancher, who secures him as a pupil, and with him a good proportion of the few dollars which he possesses. The young man goes through various fortunes, but finally falls on his feet. Meanwhile, we hear a good deal about a certain young lady, whose sobriquet gives a title to the story. The most animated part of the book is where her house and property are saved from the attack of a company of marauders by the rancher's son and the auxiliaries whom he collects. There are two love-stories of a not very complex kind. Some of the characters have a decided look of being drawn from life, notably that of the farmer parson, Thomas Corless Blaine. If such men were more common than they are, it would be well for the wild regions which lie beyond the reach of the ordinary ministrations of the Churches.
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