The Camp in the Foot-Hills; or, Oscar on Horseback

“I say, perfessor, what in creation brung that thar brother of yours out to this country, and throwed him into the company of such a varmint as that Lish?” asked Big Thompson, a...

When Big Thompson returned from his hunt, half an hour later, carrying over his shoulder a haunch of venison wrapped in the skin of a red deer, he was astonished to find his emp...

At daylight the next morning breakfast had been eaten, and the two wolfers were on their way to their new hunting grounds, Lish leading his pony, which was loaded with their out...

When the wolfer had disappeared, Oscar arose from his place of concealment and walked slowly toward the cabin. While on the way his attention was attracted by the actions of the...

Both the hunters had work to do that night; and, as soon as supper had been eaten, they set about it; Oscar devoting himself to the deer, while Big Thompson removed and stretche...

It was a merry party that assembled around the camp-fire that night as well as a tired one. Oscar sought his blanket at an early hour, and fell asleep listening to the hunting s...

The top of the ridge was thickly covered with bushes, and it was something Oscar imagined he saw behind those bushes that caused his eyes to open, and set his hands to trembling...

In none of his hunting excursions had Oscar ever been very badly troubled by what is known as the “buck-fever.” It is true that the sight of big game always startled him at firs...

“Well, if this doesn’t bang me completely! Who in the world would ever have dreamed of seeing that boy out here? I can’t describe the feelings I experienced when he first came i...

Having picketed his horse and placed his saddle and bridle under the wagon with the others, Oscar joined the group about the fire, who were preparing to dispose of a second supp...

“Well, there are two of us here; but I never could carry one end of a litter with all those animals piled on it. The distance is too great and the load would be too heavy.”

“That’s the way they all do at first,” said the colonel, smiling at the rueful look on Oscar’s face. “An Indian pony doesn’t like a white man any better than his master does, an...

“Wal, that _thar_ aint by no means so triflin’,” replied Lish, once more lowering his voice and glancing suspiciously about him. “I reckon mebbe we’d best move on an’ change our...

Oscar watched the fawn as long as it remained in sight; and was glad to see that the injuries it had inflicted upon itself did not in the least interfere with its running.

The wolfer had brought Tom to the hills with him for a purpose. He intended to make him do all the drudgery of the camp, and to increase his own profits in the spring by stealin...

Joel Warwick was a dashing young officer, proud of his chosen profession, and anxious for an opportunity to distinguish himself in it. Although he was fresh from West Point—he h...

Oscar and his guide enjoyed some splendid runs after they gave up still-hunting and took to the saddle; and Big Thompson, who had been surprised at the skill the boy exhibited i...

Lish the Wolfer had not passed many days in his new camp before he began to see very plainly that he had not bettered his prospects by coming there. For reasons we have already...

He and Oscar had been at home about twenty-four hours, and the cabin was wearing its old-time look again. The specimens and skins were all there, so were the saddles and bridles...

The opening in the bushes was so small that Oscar was able to obtain but a momentary glimpse of the passing horseman, but that momentary glimpse was enough to satisfy him on two...

“I have had your luggage taken in there,” continued the officer, nodding his head toward an open door, which gave entrance into a cosey bedroom adjoining the sitting-room, “for...

“What shall I do with the clothes?” continued Oscar. “Shall I bring them to you, or would you rather go up to the sutler’s and pick them out for yourself?”

Oscar slept soundly that night, in spite of the roaring of the wind and the howling of the wolves, and awoke at daylight to find breakfast waiting for him. A glance out at the d...

The sight was one that would have made the nerves of even an experienced hunter thrill with excitement; and we can imagine the effect it must have had upon Oscar, who had never...

He was fully as tall as Big Thompson, as thin as a rail, and blessed with a most sneaking, hangdog cast of countenance. He was clad in a blue flannel shirt, a soldier’s overcoat...

What would his mother do now? What would be the verdict of the committee, who seemed to have so exalted an opinion of his abilities, and whose confidence in him had led them to...

At almost any other time he would have plied the officer with questions regarding the class of nomads known as “wolfers,” for he would like to have learned more about them; but...

The nearest approach to a smile that Big Thompson could command overspread his face, as he removed his pipe from his mouth long enough to address this question to his employer.

Standing in front of the door of the colonel’s head-quarters was a sleepy-looking sorrel pony, saddled and bridled. He looked very diminutive when contrasted with the heavy cava...

“I would rather know what _you_ think of it when you have heard my story, which I will begin as soon as you have finished yours,” answered Oscar. “You have not yet given me any...

He was utterly confounded; and, instead of obeying the order to “climb down,” he looked toward his guide, whose blank expression of countenance showed that he understood the mat...

“Look here,” said Tom, suddenly pausing in his walk and looking down at his brother. “The fact that you came honestly by your money will not interfere with our arrangement, will...

It was our old friend Oscar Preston who said this. He was standing on the platform in front of the station at Julesburg, gazing after the stage-coach in which Leon Parker, the d...

“Now, professor,” said the ranchman, as he rose from his box and filled his pipe for his after-supper smoke, “you look as though a wink of sleep would do you good. Whenever you...

“He was, and his name was Leon Parker,” replied Oscar. “He wasn’t satisfied with as comfortable a home and as kind a father and mother as any boy ever had, so he ran away and ca...

Tom was greatly amazed when he heard this. He ran his eye over Oscar from head to foot, critically examining his neat, warm outfit, and noting, with no little bitterness of hear...

“The race of giants is not extinct, after all,” thought Oscar, as his eyes rested on the tall, broad-shouldered man, who stepped across the threshold, carrying a soldier’s overc...

These privileges consist principally in drawing rations, riding stolen horses, dressing in stolen clothing, carrying stolen weapons, and wearing as an ornament on his shield the...