pter Page

PROEM ix

I Springvale by the Neosho 13

II Jean Pahusca 25

III The Hermit's Cave 32

IV In the Prairie Twilight 43

V A Good Indian 56

VI When the Heart Beats Young 73

VII The Foreshadowing of Peril 85

VIII The Cost of Safety 99

IX The Search for the Missing 114

X O'Mie's Choice 132

XI Golden Days 150

XII A Man's Estate 166

XIII The Topeka Rally 184

XIV Deepening Gloom 200

XV Rockport and "Rockport" 217

XVI Beginning Again 242

XVII In the Valley of the Arickaree 261

XVIII The Sunlight on Old Glory 277

XIX A Man's Business 292

XX The Cleft in the Rock 317

XXI The Call to Service 334

XXII The Nineteenth Kansas Cavalry 354

XXIII In Jean's Land 370

XXIV The Cry of Womanhood 390

XXV Judson Summoned 403

XXVI O'Mie's Inheritance 420

XXVII Sunset by the Sweetwater 442

XXVIII The Heritage 464

ILLUSTRATIONS

Page

"Come, Phil," she cried, "come, crown me Queen
of May here in April!" _Frontispiece_

"Baronet, I think we are marching straight 158
into Hell's jaws"

Every movement of ours had been watched by 244
Indian scouts

Like the passing of a hurricane, horses, mules, 288
men, all dashed toward the place

They came slowly toward us, the two captive 394
women for whom we waited

PROEM

"Nature never did betray the heart that loved h