Chapter I: Preface

DEAR BOYS:--Those of you who have read the earlier volumes in this series of backwoods stories may remember that I half-promised to follow the "Pioneer Boys on the Great Lakes" with a third volume. I now have the pleasure of presenting that story to you. In it you will renew your acquaintance with the two stout-hearted lads of the border, Bob and Sandy Armstrong, as well as several other characters you met before, some of whose names have become famous, and are recorded in the history of those early days that "tried men's souls." Besides this, there are some new characters introduced, who, I hope, will appeal to your interest.

It was hardly to be expected that such a restless spirit as that of David Armstrong, the Virginia pioneer who built his log cabin on the bank of the beautiful Ohio, would long rest contented when wonderful stories constantly reached his ears concerning the astonishing fertility of the black soil, as well as the abundance of fur-bearing animals, to be found in the valley of the great river which De Soto had discovered--the mighty Mississippi; and, as you will learn, his first serious set-back caused him to start upon another long pilgrimage toward the "Promised Land."

It was this constant rivalry among the early settlers, this never-ending desire to find better homesteads in the new country, always toward the setting sun, that gradually peopled our Middle West, and finally reached out far across the plains to the shore of the Pacific.

Trusting that you may enjoy reading the present volume, and that at no distant day we may again renew our acquaintance, believe me, dear readers, to be,

Cordially yours,
HARRISON ADAMS.

_May 1st, 1913._

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE
PREFACE v
I. CAUGHT IN HIS OWN TRAP 1
II. THE BIRCH-BARK MESSAGE 13
III. FROM ONE PERIL TO ANOTHER 22
IV. AT THE MERCY OF THE FLOOD 35
V. FRIENDS IN TIME OF NEED 48
VI. SIMON GIRTY, THE RENEGADE 61
VII. THE FLINT-TIPPED ARROW ON THE ROOF 73
VIII. THE TREASURE BOX THAT WAS FORGOTTEN 87
IX. THE SPIRIT OF THE PIONEER 97
X. THE CABIN THAT BRAVED THE FLOOD 109
XI. DANIEL BOONE, THE PILOT OF THE SETTLERS 120
XII. STARTING FOR THE NEW WEST 131
XIII. BLUE JACKET GIVES WARNING 148
XIV. A TARGET FOR ARROWS AND BULLETS 157
XV. A HUNT FOR FRESH MEAT 169
XVI. THE FIGURES AGAINST THE SKY 179
XVII. SIGNAL SHOTS 189
XVIII. THE MAN WITH THE CHARMED LIFE 199
XIX. KENTON, THE RECKLESS BORDERER 209
XX. THE TWO-LEGGED WOLF 218
XXI. BAGGING A BUFFALO 228
XXII. AT THE SETTING OF THE EVENING STAR 241
XXIII. WHAT THE DEAD ASHES OF A FIRE TOLD 258
XXIV. A NEW HOME ON THE MISSISSIPPI 268
XXV. THE PERIL OF KATE 278
XXVI. THE DRIFTING DUGOUT 288
XXVII. ON THE TRAIL 298
XXVIII. CREEPING UP ON THE QUARRY 307
XXIX. THE MISSING WAMPUM BELT 317
XXX. THE MYSTERY SOLVED--CONCLUSION 327
NOTES 339

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE
"'THE PRECIOUS WAMPUM BELT, SANDY!' HE CRIED"
(_See page 332_) _Frontispiece_
"HE WAS BEING STALKED BY ONE OF THE MOST DREADED
ANIMALS OF THE FOREST, A GRAY PANTHER" 12
"MADE A SPRING FOR THE SAFETY OF THE LOG THAT
HAD DONE THE DAMAGE" 35
"AT LAST THEY WERE AFLOAT ON THE OHIO, BOUND
INTO THE UNKNOWN COUNTRY THAT LAY FAR AWAY
TO THE WESTWARD" 136
"THEY COULD NOW PLAINLY DISCERN THE FIGURE UNDER
THE WOLFSKIN" 230
"'YES, YOU ARE RIGHT, SANDY, IT _IS_ A BOAT'" 291

The Pioneer Boys of the Mississippi