CHAPTER X.

AN UNEXPECTED ENCOUNTER--CONCLUSION.

Staring at the deserted boat, with open mouth and distended eyes, the shipkeeper remained for a few moments as motionless as though he had been frozen to the ice beneath his feet. Then, in a voice tremulous with emotion, he shouted the young girl’s name, again and again; but there came no response. Nothing was to be heard save the surging of the water around the sides and in the hollows of the ice, together with the light pattering of the falling rain.

“God help the poor thing--God help her, wherever she may be!” groaned Stump. “It can’t be possible that she became so anxious-like as to start off to look for her lover, herself, after I left her, or I would have met her. I shall never forgive myself for leaving her alone--no, never. There’s something always happening to women--sickness, or something else--and I ought to have remembered that and stuck close by her side.”

He moved off--passing from berg to berg, and shouting the name of the lost girl, as he proceeded. But he was soon obliged to sit down to compose himself; for he loved Alice with an affection fully equal to that which a kind father feels for an only daughter, and her prolonged absence inspired him with emotions of grief such as he had never before experienced.

“She isn’t lost--no, no, it can’t be!” he burst forth. “She is a good gal, and Providence watches over them kind. She is young--and yet I’ve never known her to laugh at my pigtail--not that there’s any thing about it to laugh at for that matter--like some of her sex that I’ve come across in my wanderings. Ay, ay, she’s an angel, and God will take care of her.”

At that moment he heard a shout which he recognized as that of his chum, and his response soon brought the young man to his side.

“Where is she? Where is Alice? She is not where we left her!”

“God only knows!” replied Stump. “I’ve been a-calling her, and searching for her in vain, ever since my return!”

The young harpooner compressed his lips tightly. His head drooped, and his tall frame trembled, so great was his agitation.

“Stump,” he at length said, in a hoarse voice, “What can have become of her? My God!--perhaps she has slipped into the water and been drowned!”

“No, no,” cried Stump, “that last couldn’t happen. She is too careful for that, you may depend upon it. One of the boats couldn’t have come and taken her away, neither.”

“It is my opinion that all the boats are a long distance off, by this time,” replied Marline. “I didn’t even succeed in finding the one I have been looking for, for the horn suddenly stopped blowing; and the blocks of ice have now become so closely wedged, that no boat could have reached Alice soon enough to take her away before your return. No, no, she is on the ice, and if we look carefully for her, we may find her before night.”

Then, with anxious faces and beating hearts, the two men moved away, threading the many intricate passages among the icy rocks with swift steps, peering into every cavern and hollow they encountered. But the crystal chambers were empty, and mockingly echoed back their voices, as they shouted the name of Alice.

They continued their search until the shadows of night put an end to their fruitless exertions; then, in the faint hope that the young girl might have returned to the ark during their absence, they made their way to the point from which they had first started, by means of the pocket-compass in Harry’s possession.

But, the captain’s niece had not come back, and the two men seated themselves beside the little retreat, both remaining silent for a long time under the influence of a feeling akin to despair. The harpooner was the first to speak:

“I can never know a moment’s peace until Alice is found,” said he, “for I can not rid my mind of the idea that she is in some position in which she is suffering both mental and physical pain.”

“We’ll find her when the fog clears--ay, ay, we’ll have her then, I’ll warrant you,” returned Stump, pressing the hand of his chum. “And now,” he added, throwing open the side of the canvas-roof, “you had better turn in and get a nap, while I remain up and keep a sort of a watch.”

“No, no,” responded the young man, “for I am confident that I could not sleep at present, and I doubt that I shall close my eyes throughout the whole night. If either of us sleeps, you must be the man to do so.”

“I may do it, lad--ay, ay, I may do so after awhile, which wouldn’t be the case, hows’ever, if I wasn’t confident that we’ll find the gal in the morning. I’ll even go further than that,” added Stump, thrusting his arm into the boat, and drawing forth the breaker of hard bread, and the chunk of salt meat, which he had carefully wrapped in a piece of canvas. “I’ll even go further, and acknowledge that I am hopeful enough to feel hungry, and to believe that you’ll help me eat some of our allowance.”

Notwithstanding his boast, however, which in reality was but a _ruse_ to cheer the drooping spirits of his companion, the shipkeeper, while bringing his teeth together with a clicking sound, and smacking his lips as though he were enjoying his meal with a keen relish, scarcely tasted a morsel. But a half-smothered sigh escaped him when he perceived that his well-meant trick failed to produce the intended effect; for Marline would not partake of the food. “Some other time,” said he, “I’m not hungry now.”

And Stump rolled up the provision again, and dropped it into the boat, muttering rapidly to himself in an undertone:

“That’s the way with ’em--ay, ay, that’s the way with them lovers the world over. They live on moonlight when they’re together, and on grief when they are separated, and it’s only when they find themselves a-dying for the want of nourishment, that they pitch into the provisions.”

In order, however, to carry out the deception he had commenced, the shipkeeper now crawled into the boat, remarking that he should try a little nap after his meal.

Accordingly, he soon began to snore; but the noises that emanated from his nostrils were so loud and peculiar--for in his anxiety to perform his part well, he went far beyond the limits prescribed by nature--that Marline, notwithstanding his anguish, could not fail to penetrate the _ruse_.

Not dreaming that such was the case, however, Stump continued to snore, while thoughts something like the following passed through his mind:

“Ay, ay--I never tried to deceive anybody before--twist me if I did. But it’s in a good cause--that it is--and there’s no use for me to flinch now. Here’s this poor lad a-worrying out his life about this gal, and I am tortured about it too, though not exactly in the same way. But, he _must_ be cheered up--ay, that he must; and if snoring can do it--why if that can do it, there’s nothing more simple.”

A peculiar noise, like that which might have been made by the rubbing of some person’s hands against the outside surface of that portion of the tarred roof opposite to the position occupied by the harpooner, turned the reflections of the shipkeeper into another channel. His nose became silent, and raising himself upon his elbow, he listened eagerly, wondering who the author of the disturbance could be.

The scratching continued, and just as the shipkeeper was on the point of calling the attention of his chum to it, the edge of the tarred cloth resting upon the gunwale, was pushed up, and Stump beheld a pair of fierce looking eyes gleaming upon him through the gloom.

He drew quickly back, at the same time giving vent to a prolonged whistle of astonishment.

“Who is that!” he yelled, at length, in a voice so shrill and startling, that Marline sprung to his feet. “Ay, blast you, who are you? Not the devil, surely, for that creatur’ never comes to disturb honest men! Speak! you infernal ghoul-eyed thing--speak and tell me who or what you be!”

But before the sailor had concluded, the mysterious orbs disappeared, like two sparks of fire that are suddenly quenched.

“What is the matter, Stump?” inquired Harry, thrusting his head into the boat at the same moment.

His friend’s explanation was short, but graphic.

“Perhaps your imagination deceived you,” said the young man.

“Imagination! As true as my name is Stump, I haven’t a bit of that article in me. The Stumps have all been matter-of-fact, from generation to generation!”

Harry then proposed that an immediate search should be made for the mysterious creature, and, followed by Stump, who had provided himself with a harpoon and the boat hatchet, he moved quickly forward. They had not gone far when they heard a low growl, which seemed to proceed from some one of the masses of ice directly ahead of them. They were also enabled to distinguish a pair of gleaming eyes bent fiercely upon them, and which Stump declared were the same he had seen peering into the boat.

“Quick--the harpoon!” whispered Marline, as a dark form, rapidly approaching them, now became visible--“it’s a bear!”

The iron was soon in the young man’s hand, and lifting it, he darted it into the creature’s side. The bear, however, came on, tossing his head, snapping his teeth, and uttering ferocious growls; and before Marline had quite recovered his balance upon the slippery surface of the ice, the beast was so close to him, that he could feel its breath in his face; for the animal had by this time raised itself upon its hind-legs and drawn back its fore-paws preparatory to plunging its claws into the shoulders of the young man.

Stump, however, now rushed forward and buried the sharp edge of the boat hatchet deep in the animal’s neck, when, with a snarl of agony and rage, bruin turned upon his new adversary. Retreating backward, the latter continued to deal blow after blow upon the bear’s neck, until the hatchet was knocked from his grasp by a stroke from the paw of his opponent.

Stump slipped at the same moment, falling upon his back, and the next instant the bear, which had paused for a few seconds, seemingly for the purpose of twisting its half-severed head into its natural position, was about to throw itself upon the prostrate man, when Marline plunged his sheath-knife into the creature’s stomach, drawing the edge--“Norwegian fashion”--along its belly, and ripping open the flesh.

The blood of the already weakened animal poured forth in a perfect torrent, and with a faint growl of defiance, the bear fell expiring upon the ice.

“Ay, ay,” said Stump, as he regained his feet and proceeded to smooth his ruffled pigtail, “he’s a dead lubber, sure enough. I’ve heard stories before now about them creatur’s up this way, not showing much fight, but twist me if I don’t think this one is an exception, although he isn’t much taller than a common-sized Newfoundland dog, and very lean at that.”

“The animal was half starved, as you can perceive by its appearance,” replied Marline, “and that accounts for its ferocity. As a general thing a bear of this kind will run before an armed man.”

“Ay, ay, this creatur’ hasn’t had any thing to eat for a long time I’ll be bound, having got adrift, somehow, on the ice. It’s a brown bear, I think, although it’s so dark that it’s hard to make out the color. My eyes! I never yet liked to meet an enemy in the dark!”

Marline did not reply, but with a pale and agitated countenance stood looking down upon the dead body at his feet.

“Hasn’t it occurred to you, Stump,” he said at length, “that this animal may have been the cause of the disappearance of--”

“Sure enough!” interrupted the shipkeeper, starting, “and singular it is, that the idea didn’t get into my head before. Depend upon it, that creatur’ is at the bottom of the whole thing. But God help her!” he suddenly added, shuddering, “it can’t be that--that--”

“I understand what you would say,” broke forth the harpooner; “but you may set your mind at ease upon that score. Alice has _not_ been devoured by the bear, for if she had been the animal would not have attacked us so soon afterward.”

“Ay, ay!” cried Stump, brightening up, “I didn’t think of that. It’s as you say--the bear didn’t eat the poor gal. I ought to have known it by his being so lean, for he couldn’t o’ swallowed such a plump lass as she is, without showing it. No--no. She saw the ravenous creatur’ and she’s gone and hid herself somewhere and is afraid to come out. We’ll find her in the morning, lad, depend upon it!”

The two men made their way back to the block of ice upon which the ark was situated, where they remained, sleepless and watchful, until the gray dawn began to creep into the mist. Then they moved off to continue the search. But they had not gone far when Stump suddenly uttered a loud cry, while his eyes--fixed upon some particular point--gleamed with a peculiar expression.

“What is it? What do you see?” cried Marline.

“It’s gone, now!” cried Stump; “it’s gone, sure enough; and more’s the wonder. It’s a miracle--a parfect miracle; for my eyes didn’t deceive me; I’m sure of that!”

“For God’s sake, tell me; what was it?”

“It was that little golden harpoon--the gift that the captain gave to Miss Alice!”

“What? How?--the _harpoon_? You must have been deceived. Where did you see it?”

“Where that lump of ice, right ahead of us, rises up. The harpoon was on top of it. I saw the shine of the gold--I’m sure of it! But it was only for a moment, for the thing disappeared, all of a sudden--faded away from my sight!”

“Impossible! Have your senses left you, Stump?”

“Not a bit of it, lad. I saw the harpoon as plainly as I see you!”

“Are you positive upon--”

“Ay, ay; ready to swear to it?” interrupted the other, resorting to his pigtail.

The harpooner darted to the projection of ice to which the shipkeeper had alluded, and eagerly scanned every nook and crevice around it, for the idea had occurred to him that the harpoon, owing to some imperceptible motion of the berg, might have been dislodged from its position.

But the golden bauble was not found.

“It’s parfectly wonderful!” cried Stump. “Here was the harpoon, right plump and plain, a minute ago, and now it’s gone. Well, well, them that says the days of miracles is past must be infarnal liars, and--”

He paused, suddenly, and, fairly trembling with excitement, touched the arm of his companion.

“There--there it is, lad, again! sure enough. There, where that small mass of ice sticks out like a knot from the side of the berg, right ahead of us!”

“I see it!” cried Harry, darting forward, and, in a few moments, he would have seized it, had not the little bauble suddenly and mysteriously disappeared from his view!

He carefully scanned the projecting mass of ice, but he saw nothing to explain the singular phenomenon that had just occurred.

“It’s a queer bit of gold--my eyes, if it isn’t!” cried Stump, “to run away from its friends in that style, seeing as it isn’t through miserliness that we are after it. There’s a miracle about it, sure enough!”

As the shipkeeper concluded, he chanced to direct his eyes toward a hole in that part of the ice near his feet, and he then beheld two little twinkling orbs looking up at him from the cavity. He started back, with a cry of surprise, but, the next moment, he condemned himself for this unnecessary display of emotion.

“To think that I should be startled by a seal a-looking up at me from his hole!” he exclaimed, as the inquiring eyes of Marline were bent upon his face; “for that was all, lad--I’m ashamed to own it--that was all that made me cry out.”

He stamped upon the ice, impatiently, as he spoke, and, probably alarmed by the noise thus made, the seal crawled from the cavity, and dove into a narrow channel of water that extended along the base of the berg; but, before it had accomplished this feat, the two men, to their surprise and unbounded joy, had caught sight of the golden harpoon, which was suspended to the neck of the little creature by means of a strip of blue ribbon!

“Ay, ay; I told you so,” exclaimed Stump, gleefully rubbing his hands. “The gal is still alive; for who but herself could have tied that bit of gold to the neck of the seal!”

“Certainly!” responded Marline, with gleaming eyes; “and, without doubt, we can find the whereabouts of Alice by closely tracking this creature, which will probably go to the point from which it first started. It has been hurt by a blow from a boat-hook, or some other implement. I know that by the way it moved.”

“And that’s why it takes to the water,” replied his companion; “for the creatur’ knows that salts is good for its wound, and it’s only by cruising along the edge of the channel that we’ll sight it again.”

Accordingly, the two men, with their gaze still resting upon the narrow strip of water, proceeded along its icy shore. They had not gone far when they saw the seal lying motionless upon a small berg, a few feet ahead of them.

But it moved slowly away as they advanced--so slowly, in fact, that they were obliged to slacken their pace, in order not to alarm the timid animal. Occasionally, it would vanish, by moving under some overhanging mass of ice; but, the next moment, their eyes would again catch the gleam of the golden harpoon, as its bearer emerged to their view. In this manner they followed it for a full half-hour, at the end of which time the creature glided toward a hole, near the base of a berg--one which, as it was near the eastern edge of the floe, had not hitherto been encountered by the men during their search.

“Ay, ay!” cried Stump, “there it goes, sure enough, into the hole, and--and--my eyes!” he suddenly interrupted, “it’s only got half-way in, after all, for the p’int of the harpoon has caught in a crevice, and holds the little lubber fast!”

He darted forward, as he concluded, seized the struggling animal, and, disengaging the bauble from its neck, passed it to Marline. At the same moment, a musical voice was heard to emerge from between the thick ice-walls of the berg:

“Is that you, my friend? Heaven be praised!”

Both men uttered a simultaneous shout of joy.

“It is she--it is Alice!” cried Marline, bounding forward. “Thank God! she is found at last!”

“Ay, ay!” retorted the shipkeeper, clapping his hands, and dancing around the frozen mass, like a wild islander; “I felt pretty sartain that blessed little creatur’ would lead us the right way! We are here, Miss Alice!--both of us!” he added, raising his voice; “so keep up a good heart, till we get you out, which we’ll do in the tying of a square knot!”

In fact, Harry had already begun to ascend one of the sides of the crystal pile, and soon afterward, as the berg was not very high, he had gained its summit. Here he found an aperture, which was barely large enough to admit a human body, and which led into one of those small, curiously-formed cells, which are found among the many crystal wonders fashioned by Nature’s hand.

And, in this narrow chamber, the sides of which were too smooth to enable her to climb them, stood the niece of Captain Howard, looking up at her lover, as he peered through the opening, which was not more than five feet above her head.

By means of the “ratlin-cords,” in Stump’s possession, the young girl was soon extricated from her uncomfortable quarters. Then, under the natural impulse of the moment, Marline clasped her to his breast, while she, with a glad but faint cry, pillowed her weary head upon his bosom.

“My own Alice, found at last!”

“Harry--dear Harry! Thank Heaven! we meet again!”

“Ay, ay!” cried Stump; “so you do; and it does my heart good to see it. It was that pretty idee of yours--that of fastening the harpoon to the seal--that brought it all about. But I think we’d better get back to your ‘hotel,’ as soon as we can, seeing as you’ll be more comfortable there than you are here. The fog,” he added, glancing around him, “will soon clear before the northerly breeze, which has been fresh’ning since midnight; and, if I ain’t mistaken, we’ll see some of the boats when that happens.”

Accordingly, the little party moved off in the direction of the ark, and, as they proceeded, Alice explained to her two friends the cause of her disappearance. Soon after Stump had quitted her to search for Marline, she heard a low growl, at no great distance from the spot she occupied, and, at the same moment, she beheld a ferocious-looking bear moving toward her. Obeying the impulse of the moment, she turned and fled, the animal pursuing her, and it was not until she found herself near the eastern edge of the floe, that she ventured to look behind her. Then, to her horror and dismay, she perceived that the savage beast was within a few feet of her. There was, however, within reach of her hand, a curiously-shaped iceberg, and the thought now occurred to her that, if she could gain its summit, the bear would not be able to follow her up the slippery ascent. Accordingly, with the strength and activity of desperation, she scaled the glittering mass, in the top of which she found the opening already alluded to, and through which, by an unguarded movement, she was precipitated into the cell or cavity beneath. She heard the savage growls of rage from her pursuer without, as the beast, with rapid but clumsy movements, vainly endeavored to clamber the slippery sides of the berg; and, finally, the sound of the retreating footsteps of the baffled animal saluted her ears. Not long afterward she distinguished the far-off voices of Stump and Marline, who, by this time, had commenced to search for her. She responded, as loudly as she could, but the thickness of the ice-walls prevented her voice from reaching the two sailors--a fact of which she was convinced by the receding of the shouts. They became fainter every moment, and, with a weary sigh, she had crouched in a corner of her cell, when her glance alighted upon the form of a seal, as it emerged from a small hole opposite to her. Then the happy thought of fastening the golden harpoon to the creature’s neck flashed upon her mind. Her friends, she thought, would certainly see the little traveler, during its wanderings about the floe, and would finally track the animal to its retreat, to which, prompted by instinct, it would probably return before many hours. Be this as it might, however, the novelty of the idea pleased her, and so, creeping cautiously toward the seal, which, owing to the wound it had received, was not very active, she finally succeeded in grasping it and in securing the golden bauble to its neck by the strip of blue ribbon which was taken from her hair. Then she released the little prisoner, and was pleased to see it crawl away from her and disappear through its hole. The reader knows the rest.

By the time the young girl concluded her story, the fog had cleared sufficiently to enable the party to see for nearly half a league across the watery expanse stretching away to the south.

The faint booming of a gun was now heard in that direction, and it was followed by a joyful exclamation from Stump. With a loud cheer he tossed his sou’wester into the air.

“That gun is from the ship!” he exclaimed, “it’s that lubberly six-pounder that she carries, forward. I can’t mistake the sound.”

He was right; but an hour elapsed before enough of the fog had lifted to enable the spectators to see the vessel, which was nearly a league to the south’ard, heading directly for the floe. The shipkeeper seized an oar, and fastening a piece of canvas to it, waved it about his head. Ere long the signal was answered by that of the Montpelier, which was “run up” to the truck, and when the vessel had approached within a mile of the floe, her main topsail was “backed”; then a boat was lowered. It soon struck the ice, and Alice was received in her uncle’s arms; while Mr. Briggs advanced and shook hands with his harpooner.

Explanations followed, and while the captain’s niece was relating her story to her uncle, Mr. Briggs proceeded to give Marline an account of the adventures of himself and his companions after they had parted from the young men on the floe.

“It was not until we had wandered about for some time,” said he, “that we succeeded in sighting one of the boats--that of the second mate. We shouted to him; he picked us up, and I then told him that I had left you alone upon the ice to take charge of my stove boat, and that we must contrive to work his craft to the spot where you were, so that we could pick you up. By this time, hows’ever, the blocks and bergs had become so closely jammed together, that none of us could see how we were a-going to do what I proposed. Spooner declared that the boat would certainly be knocked to pieces before we got to you, if we tried to force her through them bergs. But, as I insisted, the second mate gave in, and we went to work. But, bless your eyes, you might as well have tried to push the craft through a rock as to force her through them tightly-squeezing lumps of ice! Still, we tugged and strained, using oars and paddles, and sometimes jumping out of the boat to lighten her; and, at last, after we had worked for about three hours, a-sounding our horn all the time, and after we’d got so far among the bergs that we didn’t think we could ever get out again, and all without seeing or hearing anything of you, I came to the conclusion that my craft had got sunk, and that you’d been picked up by one of the other boats; and so I said to Spooner, that we’d better be for getting out of our ticklish quarters if he didn’t want his boat to get stove.”

“Ay, ay,” here interposed Stump, “and there’s sartainly a moral in that part of your story, seeing as it shows how difficulties always makes us parfectly willing to believe that it’s best to do what we’re most inclined to do, a-leaving our duty entirely out of the consideration.”

As the shipkeeper was a sort of privileged character, the mate took no notice of his remark beyond a slight frown. Then again turning to Marline, he continued:

“It took us as long, if not longer, to get out of the ice than to get in, but, we got clear at last, and Spooner had just given orders to the men to take to their oars--for he intended to make for the shore--when suddenly we heard, ahead of us, a sound like the rushing of a ship through the water. The crew were then made to stop pulling, and we were a-sitting with our oars apeak, when, my eyes! what should come looming out of the fog, and making straight for us, but the Montpelier itself!”

And Briggs then went on to describe those incidents concerning the chase--the death of Tom Block--the final recapture of the ship by Captain Howard--and, lastly, the loss of the two boats; all of which are already familiar to the reader.

“All that we could do after the loss of our boats,” continued the narrator, “was to wait for a breeze, which, as you know, didn’t spring up until midnight. Then we headed for the floe, as you can perceive, and were fortunate enough, soon afterward, to pick up the third mate, whose boat it is you see alongside of us. You know the rest, lads, and so that ends the story.”

We have but little more to add.

The whole party returned to the Montpelier, in which, after she had partaken of refreshments, and enjoyed the luxury of sleep, Alice recovered her youthful spirits, together with the bloom that had, in a measure, been banished by the hardships she had suffered.

A week from that time the vessel left the sea of Ochotsk, homeward-bound. She arrived at her destined port in a few months, and the trial of all the mutineers--with the exception of the Portuguese steward (who shortly after his desertion from the Montpelier, had been picked up by the whaler Comus only to be lost overboard shortly afterward during a heavy gale of wind)--was then commenced.

Tom Lark and Driko were sentenced to be hung; the rest, to be imprisoned for life.

Alice Howard and Harry Marline were married before a select party of friends--among whom was Stump, with his pigtail beautifully oiled for the occasion--at the house of the bride’s uncle. They are now living, contented and happy, in a pleasant cottage on the outskirts of New Bedford.

Stump, who still follows a seafaring life, comes to see them, once in a while, and on every such occasion, as may well be imagined, he receives a hearty welcome, not only from Alice and her husband, but also from two other Marlines--two little pocket editions with chubby faces and fat hands, who think almost as much of “Uncle Stump” as they do of the pretty GOLDEN HARPOON that now hangs suspended from the wall of their mother’s chamber.

THE END.

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Distancing all rivalry, equally in their beauty and intrinsic excellence as romances, this new series will quickly take the lead in public favor, and be regarded as the Paragon Novels!

NOW READY, AND IN PRESS.

=No. 1--Hawkeye Harry, The Young Trapper Ranger.= By Oll Coomes. =No. 2--Dead Shot=; or, The White Vulture. By Albert W. Aiken. =No. 3--The Boy Miners=; or, The Enchanted Island. By Edward S. Ellis. =No. 4--Blue Dick=; or, The Yellow Chief’s Vengeance. By Capt. Mayne Reid. =No. 5--Nat Wolfe=; or, The Gold-Hunters. By Mrs. M. V. Victor. =No. 6--The White Tracker=; or, The Panther of the Plains. By Edward S. Ellis. =No. 7--The Outlaw’s Wife=; or, The Valley Ranche. By Mrs. Ann S. Stephens. =No. 8--The Tall Trapper=; or, The Flower of the Blackfeet. By Albert W. Aiken. =No. 9--Lightning Jo, the Terror of the Santa Fe Trail.= By Capt. Adams. =No. 10--The Island Pirate.= A Tale of the Mississippi. By Captain Mayne Reid. =No. 11--The Boy Ranger=; or, The Heiress of the Golden Horn. By Oll Coomes. =No. 12--Bess, the Trapper.= A Tale of the Far South-west. By Edward S. Ellis. =No. 13--The French Spy=; or, The Fall of Montreal. By W. J. Hamilton. =No. 14--Long Shot=; or, The Dwarf Guide. By Capt. Comstock. =No. 15--The Gunmaker of the Border.= By James L. Bowen. =No. 16--Red Hand=; or, The Channel Scourge. By A. G. Piper. =No. 17--Ben, the Trapper=; or, The Mountain Demon. By Maj. Lewis W. Carson. =No. 18--Wild Raven, the Ranger=; or, The Missing Guide. By Oll Coomes. =No. 19--The Specter Chief=; or, The Indian’s Revenge. By Seelin Robins. =No. 20--The B’ar-Killer=; or, The Long Trail. By Capt. Comstock. =No. 21--Wild Nat=; or, The Cedar Swamp Brigade. By Wm. R. Eyster. =No. 22--Indian Jo, the Guide.= By Lewis W. Carson. =No. 23--Old Kent, the Ranger.= By Edward S. Ellis. =No. 24--The One-Eyed Trapper.= By Capt. Comstock. =No. 25--Godhold, the Spy.= A Tale of Arnold’s Treason. By N. C. Iron. =No. 26--The Black Ship.= By John S. Warner. =No. 27--Single Eye, the Scourge.= By Warren St. John. =No. 28--Indian Jim.= A Tale of the Minnesota Massacre. By Edward S. Ellis. =No. 29--The Scout.= By Warren St. John. =No. 30--Eagle Eye.= By W. J. Hamilton. =No. 31--The Mystic Canoe.= A Romance of a Hundred Years Ago. By Edward S. Ellis. =No. 32--The Golden Harpoon=; or, Lost Among the Floes. By Roger Starbuck. =No. 33--The Scalp King.= By Lieut. Ned Hunter. =No. 34--Old Lute, the Indian-fighter=; or, The Don in the Hills. By E. W. Archer. =No. 35--Rainbolt, the Ranger=; or, The Ærial Demon of the Mountain. By Oll Coomes. =No. 36--The Boy Pioneer.= By Edward S. Ellis. =No. 37--Carson, the Guide=; or, the Perils of the Frontier. By Lieut. J. H. Randolph. =No. 38--The Heart Eater=; or, The Prophet of the Hollow Hill. By Harry Hazard. =No. 39--Wetzel, the Scout=; or, The Captive of the Wilderness. By Boynton Belknap, M. D. =No. 40--The Huge Hunter=; or, The Steam Man of the Prairies. By Edward S. Ellis. =No. 41--Wild Nat, the Trapper.= By Paul Prescott. =No. 42--Lynx-cap=; or, The Sioux Track. By Paul Bibbs. =No. 43--The White Outlaw=; or, The Bandit Brigand. By Harry Hazard. =No. 44--The Dog Trailer.= By Frederick Dewey. Ready =No. 45--The Elk King.= By Capt. Chas. Howard. Ready =No. 46--Adrian, the Pilot.= By Col. Prentiss Ingraham. Ready March 28th. =No. 47--The Man-hunter.= By Maro O. Rolfe. Ready April 11th.

BEADLE’S DIME POCKET NOVELS are always in print and for sale by all newsdealers; or will be sent, post-paid, to any address; single numbers, ten cents; six months (13 Nos.) $1.25; one year (26 Nos.) $2.50. Address,

=BEADLE AND ADAMS, Publishers, 98 William Street, New York=.

Transcriber’s Notes

The Table of Contents at the beginning of the book was created by the transcriber.

Inconsistencies in hyphenation such as “boat-sail”/“boatsail” have been maintained.

Minor punctuation and spelling errors have been silently corrected and, except for those changes noted below, all misspellings in the text, especially in dialogue, and inconsistent or archaic usage, have been retained.

Page 46: “The cheeks of the youg” changed to “The cheeks of the young”.

Page 48: “unabated ardor for nearly a qaarter” changed to “unabated ardor for nearly a quarter”.

Page 56: “and all for the pursose” changed to “and all for the purpose”.

Page 61: “a boat lying just a little off the starbord” changed to “a boat lying just a little off the starboard”.