Category: Children & Young Adult Reading

Jack of the Pony Express; Or, The Young Rider of the Mountain Trails

"You think a lot of that pony of yours, don't you, Jack?" and a motherly-looking woman came to the doorway of a small cottage and peered up the mountain trail, which ran in front of the building. Out on the trail itself stood a tall, bronzed lad, who was, in fact, about sevent...

Chapters

2. Chapter 2

For a moment Jack Bailey did not know what to do. He looked at his father, who was evidently quite ill and suffering much pain. Then the lad glanced at the bags of mail and smal...

22. Chapter 22

For a few seconds the two young people remained looking alternately at one another, and then at the packet which they guessed contained the long-expected and important papers. T...

24. Chapter 24

Morning came. At least the dawn was heralded in the east, where the dark clouds turned to pink, growing brighter and brighter, until the sun himself peeped above the horizon.

25. Chapter 25

"Come on, old boy!" he cried. "You may not be as good as Sunger, but he's had a hard time lately, being kept out among the mountains, and I don't believe he's up to the mark. We...

1. Chapter 1

"You think a lot of that pony of yours, don't you, Jack?" and a motherly-looking woman came to the doorway of a small cottage and peered up the mountain trail, which ran in fron...

12. Chapter 12

Jack Bailey did not know what to do or say. He just stood there in the morning light, gazing at Mr. Argent, as though to make sure of the miner's words. Finally he faltered:

4. Chapter 4

There was, as Jack said, "half a moon," and by the light of this he was able to see, as he glanced over the part of the bridge he had traversed, a place where a plank had fallen...

11. Chapter 11

Jack was so overjoyed at his queer and unexpected discovery that, for the moment, he forgot all about the approaching horsemen from whom he had hidden himself. Then there came a...

3. Chapter 3

"Say, Jennie, what is this; a joke?" asked Jack, as he leaned up against the table on which was piled the mail and some express matter, for the post office was also used as the...

20. Chapter 20

"Jack is late, isn't he, Jennie?" asked Mrs. Blake, as she sat in the Golden Crossing post office. She had finished her sewing, and had stopped for a little chat.

18. Chapter 18

Jack's first thought was that Ryan had ridden off in haste after having helped himself to a drink from the flask, but, somewhat to his surprise, he saw the man who had removed t...

16. Chapter 16

"Yes, and more so," was the answer. "There's a big fight on to get this mine away from me and my friends, but we're going to beat our enemies. They'd give anything to get the in...

6. Chapter 6

Whether the young postmistress, or the two strange men, was the more surprised could not be told. Both Jennie and her annoyers started at the sudden appearance of the young pony...

19. Chapter 19

Nearing the spring, where he had taken a drink before that day, Jack was about to dismount to get some cooling water. But such a strange feeling of weakness and dizziness came o...

10. Chapter 10

Left to himself, tied tightly with the ropes that cut into his wrists and made his legs ache, poor Jack lay in a sort of stupor. He could hardly understand what had happened, an...

13. Chapter 13

Down the rocky slope, toward the little settlement on the flats below the dam, rode Jack. He thought rapidly. If he could beat the flood, there would be time to warn the sleepin...

23. Chapter 23

A glance into the room where the safe stood showed what havoc had been wrought by the explosion. It was not much, for only a small charge had been used. But the door of the safe...

9. Chapter 9

For a moment Jack was so overcome by dizziness and a faint, sick feeling, that he could do nothing. Everything seemed black before his eyes, a blackness not of night, but the bl...

17. Chapter 17

Jack's first idea was that he could soon and easily remove from between the hoof and shoe the small stone that was making his pony lame. But when he got to work at it, with a pe...

15. Chapter 15

Shots always attract attention, especially in a western community where they usually mean something. In cities there are so many noises constantly being heard, and back-fires an...

21. Chapter 21

They carried Jack inside, and laid him on a couch. Jennie and her mother used what simple remedies they had at hand to rouse him from his unconscious state. Tim took the exhaust...

5. Chapter 5

Mr. Argent paused in the act of handing the sealed documents to the young pony express rider, and turned to look at the man who had called to him. Jack recognized him as a minin...

8. Chapter 8

Naturally, after the little experience of the morning, having received the sealed letters, and having again seen the two men who had acted so roughly toward Jennie, Jack was a l...

7. Chapter 7

"Say! Wait a minute!" suddenly exclaimed Jack. He had but a glimpse of the man's back, but there seemed to be something familiar about the manner in which the man walked off. Li...

14. Chapter 14

"I rather think I do, but I'm not sure," Jack answered. Again there was a grim shutting of his lips, and a determined look came into his eyes. "I want to hear him speak first,"...