does not occur to these ladies,--one the widow of a Prussian
officer, and the other her niece, who have returned to America after a
long residence abroad. They prefer to remain, as it were, incognito;
and, pried; into as the seclusion of the new-comers is by all the
curious, this reticence soon causes misconstructions and scandals. The
petty gossip, the solemnities of self-importance, and the Phariseeism of
a country neighborhood are very well portrayed, and, we fear, without
any especial exaggeration. The story is told with unflagging spirit, and
shows quick perceptions and a lively feeling for situations. Carol
Lester's friendship for Oliver Floyd while she is ignorant of the
existence of his wife is a flaw in the pleasantness; but "Upon a Cast"
is well worthy of a high place in the list of summer novels.

Although "Down the Ravine" belongs to the category of books for young
people, the story is too true to life in characters and incidents, and
too artistically handled, not to find appreciative readers of all ages.
In fact, we are inclined to discover in the book stronger indications of
the author's powers as a novelist than in anything she has hitherto
published. "Where the Battle was Fought," in spite of all its fine
scenes, had not the same sustained interest nor the same spontaneity.
The plot of the present story is excellent, and the characters act and
react on each other in a simple and natural way. The youthful Diceys,
with the faithful, loyal Birt at their head, are a capital study; and
from first to last the author has nowhere erred in truth or failed in
humor.

Taking into consideration the ease with which Mr. Bret Harte won his
laurels, and the belief which all his early admirers shared that here at
last was the great American novelist, who was to hold a distinctive
place in the world's literature, he has perhaps not fulfilled
expectations nor answered the demands upon his powers. The very
individuality of his work, its characteristic bias, has been, in point
of fact, a hinderance and an impediment. The unexpectedness of his first
stories, the enchanted surprise, like that of a new and delicious
vintage or a wonderful undiscovered chord in music,--these effects are
not easily made to recur with undiminished strength and charm. However,
one may generally find some bubbles of the old delightful elixir in Mr.
Harte's stories, and in this little group of them, regathered, we
believe, from English magazines, e