The Hunters Of The Ozark

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER. PAGE.

I.--AN ESTRAY, 5
II.--THE TINKLE OF A BELL, 15
III.--AN ABORIGINAL PLOT, 25
IV.--A PARTY OF THE THIRD PART, 34
V.--A FRIEND IN NEED, 44
VI.--FRED LINDEN RECEIVES A MESSAGE FROM THE OZARK CAMP, 54
VII.--THE HUNTERS OF OZARK, 64
VIII.--A WELCOME ACQUAINTANCE, 74
IX.--A MISHAP, 84
X.--A STRUGGLE FOR LIFE, 94
XI.--TRAMPING SOUTHWARD, 104
XII.--A STRANGE ANIMAL, 114
XIII.--A TROUBLESOME VISITOR, 124
XIV.--A WELCOME ALLY, 134
XV.--"DEERFOOT WILL BE SENTINEL TO-NIGHT," 144
XVI.--AROUND THE CAMP-FIRE, 154
XVII.--A SUSPICIOUS SOUND, 164
XVIII.--LIKE A THIEF IN THE NIGHT, 174
XIX.--SHAWANOE AND WINNEBAGO, 185
XX.--ANOTHER NIGHT VISITOR, 195
XXI.--THE CAMP OF THE WINNEBAGOS, 205
XXII.--"KEEP TO THE TRAIL," 215
XXIII.--AN INFURIATE SHAWANOE, 225
XXIV.--THE DEFIANCE, 236
XXV.--THE SIGNAL FIRE, 245
XXVI.--ON THE EDGE OF THE PRAIRIE, 257
XXVII.--A MORNING MEAL, 269
XXVIII.--A STRANGE RIDE, 281
XXIX.--A YOUNG HUNTER'S STRATEGY, 293
XXX.--TERRY FINISHES HIS RIDE, 305
XXXI.--THE DEVIL'S PUNCH BOWL, 316
XXXII.--THE TERROR IN THE AIR, 328
XXXIII.--FRED LINDEN AWAKENS TO AN ALARMING FACT, 340
XXXIV.--THE CANOE, 352
XXXV.--AMERICA VERSUS IRELAND, 364
XXXVI.--AMERICA VERSUS AMERICA, 376
XXXVII.--THE LAST CAMP-FIRE, 388
XXXVIII.--CONCLUSION, 400

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THE HUNTERS OF THE OZARK.

CHAPTER I.

AN ESTRAY.


One day in the autumn Terence Clark came to the house of Frederick
Linden and urged him to join in a hunt for a cow that had been missing
since the night before. The latter got the consent of his mother and the
two lads started on a search that proved to be the most eventful one
they had ever known.

A few words in the way of explanation must be given at this point. The
date of the events I have set out to tell was toward the close of the
last century, and the scene the south-western part of the present State
of Missouri, but which was then a part of the vast territory known as
Louisiana. Though the town of St. Louis had been settled a good many
years before, there were only a few pioneers scattered through the
almost limitless region that stretched in every direction from the
Mississippi. Here and there the hunters and trappers were often absent
from their homes for months at a time, during which they suffered much
exposure and hardship. They slept for weeks in the open woods, or when
the severity of the weather would not allow this, they found refuge in
caves or hollow trees. Then, when enough skins had been gathered to load
their pack-horses they started on the long tramps to the French trading
post on the Mississippi. They followed faintly marked paths or trails
that converged from a score or hundred different points until they
reached the Father of Waters, where the peltries were soon sold and the
proceeds, too often, squandered within the succeeding few hours.

At the date of which I am speaking, a small settlement known as Greville
stood in the south-western section of the large State of Missouri, as it
is now known. The first cabins were put up only a few years before, and
the settlers, including men, women and children, numbered about two
hundred.