Happy has an eager, hungry, active mind, a mind worthy of careful cultivation; but forced by circumstances to gather its nourishment along lines similar to those adopted by the meek and lowly sponge. A sponge is earnest, patient, and industrious; but, fixed to a submerged stone as it is, it is hampered by limitations which no amount of personal ambition is quite able to overcome. As Happy himself was fond of saying: “The thing ’at sets most strangers again each other, is the fact that each insists on judgin’ everything from his own standpoint. A cow-puncher gets the idee that because an Eastener can’t sit comfortable on a bronco when it’s sunfishin’ or twistin’ ends, he jes nachely ain’t fit to clutter up the surface o’ the earth; while the Eastener is inclined to estimate the puncher an’ his pony as bein’ on the same intellectual level. If they’d just open up an’ examine each other impartial, they’d mighty soon see ’at the difference in ’em came from what they did, instead o’ the choice o’ their lines o’ business dependin’ on their natural make-up. I once had a no-account pinto which refused to squat back on the rope, and I rejoiced exceeding when I got seventy-five bucks for him; but the feller I took advantage of clipped his mane, docked his tail, introduced him into swell-society, and got three hundred for him as a polo pony; which all goes to show—” (The finish of this is an expansive wave of the hand, a tilt of the head to the right, and an indescribably droll expression.) The above is a fair sample of the leisurely way in which Happy Hawkins tells a story. This is not the proper way to tell a story. A story should travel an air-line and not stop at the smaller stations, while Happy prefers to take his bed along on a spare horse and camp out wherever the mood strikes him. The reader who delights in a story which speeds along like a limited, will probably be disappointed in this book; while, on the other hand, the reader who enjoys the intimate association which is lighted with the evening camp fire, runs a risk of finding some relaxation in taking another little trip with Happy Hawkins. R. A. W.