The Project Gutenberg eBook, Cowmen and Rustlers, by Edward S. Ellis

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Title: Cowmen and Rustlers

Author: Edward S. Ellis

Release Date: February 27, 2004 [eBook #11337]

Language: English

Character set encoding: US-ASCII

***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK COWMEN AND RUSTLERS***

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COWMEN AND RUSTLERS

A Story of the Wyoming Cattle Ranges

BY

EDWARD S. ELLIS

AUTHOR OF "LOG CABIN SERIES," "BOONE AND KENTON SERIES," ETC.

WITH FOUR FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS BY W.M. CARY

MCMIV

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER

I. A MERRY GROUP

II. A WARNING FROM THE WOODS

III. THE FLIGHT OVER THE ICE

IV. THE REPORT OF GUNS

V. LOOKING SOUTHWARD

VI. COWMEN AND RUSTLERS

VII. THE WARNING

VIII. GOOD-BY

IX. A SUMMONS AND A REPLY

X. A HOT PURSUIT

XI. A STRANGE DIVERSION

XII. THE BACK TRAIL

XIII. A CONSULTATION

XIV. UNWELCOME CALLERS

XV. THE "DOG INDIANS"

XVI. AN UNPLEASANT VISIT

XVII. A DELICATE SITUATION

XVIII. A MISCALCULATION

XIX. THE BURNED RANCH

XX. THE TRUCE

XXI. A MESSENGER IN HASTE

XXII. IMPORTANT TIDINGS

XXIII. AT BAY

XXIV. THE PRIMITIVE FORT

XXV. THE FLAG or TRUCE

XXVI. THE UNDERGROUND MISSIVE

XXVII. ON PAROLE

XXVIII. THE FINAL SUMMONS

XXIX. A STRANGE OCCURRENCE

XXX. THE MISSING ONE

XXXI. WHY IT WAS DONE

XXXII. THE HOSTAGE

XXXIII. THE PRISONER

XXXIV. OUT IN THE NIGHT

XXXV. CONCLUSION

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

"FIRED TWO MORE BARRELS"

"COMING STRAIGHT TOWARD HIM"

"A MASS OF BLAZING EMBERS"

"CHALLENGED ON THE EDGE OF THE CAMP"

CHAPTER I.

A MERRY GROUP.

The Whitney household, in the western part of Maine, was filled with
sunshine, merriment and delight, on a certain winter evening a few
years ago.

There was the quiet, thoughtful mother, now past her prime, but with
many traces of the beauty and refinement that made her the belle
of the little country town until Hugh Whitney, the strong-bearded
soldier, who had entered th