Arthur was thunderstruck.  “Why, Joaquin,” said he, “Pierre promised me faithfully that I should be treated as a visitor, and that no ransom should be demanded for me.”

“And did you put any faith in that promise?  When your father gives us twenty thousand dollars, you can go, and not before.”

Arthur cried, begged, and threatened in vain.  Joaquin was firm, and the traitor was obliged to accompany him to the mountains.  That night he wrote to his father, informing him of his situation, and Joaquin, after tying his prisoner to a tree, and gagging him, to prevent him from shouting for assistance, rode to the settlement, and left the note on Mr. Vane’s door-step.

During the three weeks following, Arthur led a most miserable life.  He had nothing to eat but dried meat, and but little of that.  His captor treated him very harshly, tying him to a tree every night, to prevent his escape, and moving him about in the day-time, from place to place, to avoid capture.  It soon became known in the settlement, that Arthur was held as a prisoner, and the search was conducted with redoubled energy.  Joaquin was constantly on the alert, but he was caught at last; for, one day, just as he and Arthur were about to sit down to their dinner of dried meat, Frank, Archie, and Johnny suddenly appeared in sight, accompanied by the two trappers.  Archie had repeatedly declared that he owed the traitor a debt, which he intended to settle the very first time he met him; but when he saw what a wretched condition Arthur was in, he relented, and pitied him from the bottom of his heart.

Joaquin was sent to San Diego to be dealt with according to law, and Arthur went home.  He did not remain there long; but, as soon as he was able to travel, started for Kentucky, and every one was glad that he had gone.

Frank and Archie could tell stories now that were worth listening to.  They had seen exciting times since their arrival in California, had been the heroes of some thrilling adventures, and they never got weary of talking over the incidents that transpired during their captivity among the Rancheros.

THE END.

THE JOHN C. WINSTON CO.’S POPULAR JUVENILES.

J.T.  Trowbridge.

Neither as a writer does he stand apart from the great currents of life and select some exceptional phase or odd combination of circumstances.  He stands on the common level and appeals to the universal heart, and all that he suggests or achieves is on the plane and in the line of march of the great body of humanity.