The Pioneer Boys of the Yellowstone; or, Lost in the Land of Wonders

THE astonishment of Jasper Williams was apparent as he saw Dick and Roger Armstrong before him. Up to that time he had supposed the attack to be simply one of those ordinary Ind...

"DO you believe him, Dick?" asked Roger, huskily, after the French trader had turned his back on them, and the Indians busied themselves binding the hands of their captives behi...

FOR some time the three fugitives plodded through the pine forest that lay along the side of the mountain ridge, enclosing the wide valley in which the camp of the Indians had b...

PERHAPS they were taking some chances as they sat there by their fire that evening; but there was no help for it. Being without blankets or any furs to keep them warm when sleep...

FORGOTTEN at that minute were all their other troubles, as each made hurried efforts to get away from the spot. The trembling of the rocks told plainly enough that some convulsi...

INSTINCTIVELY all of them guessed what the character of the intruder must be. The terrible roar, and the glimpse they obtained of the great hairy body ere the fire was scattered...

AT first, the stone seemed satisfied to merely slide downward, so that Dick hoped it would lodge in some crevice and not be noticed by any of the passing Indians. This hope was...

They could catch a glimpse of what looked like an inland sea. The wind was raising whitecaps on the tops of the waves, as they rolled past toward the south. As far as the eye co...

If the wily red men had succeeded in surrounding them, so that there was no chance of escape, they might as well give up all hope of saving themselves from capture. Poor Roger,...

TURNING to Dick and Roger, Captain Lewis told them to follow him to the shack where he and Captain Clark transacted whatever business they found necessary for the conduct of the...

Indeed, there was little time given to any of them to think of escape. When the wily French trader had conveyed his suspicions to some of the Blackfoot braves there was a concer...

"MAKE sure work of him, Dick!" Roger said, in trembling tones, as he saw the other draw back the flint-capped hammer of his gun, showing that it was ready for business.

"I AM glad to hear you say that, Dick; you always have some good news when it gets bleak and black. And from the way I'm shivering I think the sooner we make a move the better."

WITH the first peep of dawn both lads were astir. Their hearts and thoughts were so wrapped up in the desire to once more find Jasper Williams and obtain his signature to a dupl...

ROGER knew what was expected of him under such conditions. A regard for his own safety induced him to roll aside. If the wounded animal endeavored to fasten upon his body in its...

THE three dropped to the ground, where they flattened themselves out so as to be as inconspicuous as possible. Of course the prospect of approaching trouble caused the hearts of...

ROGER tripped over some obstacle, so that both he and Dick fell flat on their faces, though neither had the misfortune to be injured other than to receive minor bruises.

That something had, indeed, happened was easy to see from the dejected manner of the messenger. His face bore a deeply chagrined look, as though there was some reason for his fe...

THERE was little that the two lads did not know about making a camp, for they had been accustomed to spending nights in the woods ever since they first learned to handle a gun,...

"Yes, and they seemed to be starting down the side of the ridge toward us, as near as I could see," Dick declared, nor did the guide dispute the assertion.

As a rule Roger was a light-hearted boy, so that the change was all the more noticeable whenever he devoted himself to evolving some idea that had occurred to him.

IT was indeed a sight well calculated to make the boys stare, and rub their eyes in wonder, as though they half believed they must be dreaming. If these wonders of Yellowstone P...

"WHAT about the swivel gun in the camp; could it be heard as far away as this, do you think, Dick?" asked Roger, as though a new idea had flashed into his mind.

"HEAD him off!" Roger called from the rear, while he made all haste to come up, even though he had an empty and useless gun, and could not be of any assistance to his comrades.

"CHEER up, Roger!" said Dick, making an effort to look as though he himself had no fear of disaster. "I've often heard my father say it is foolish to cross a bridge before you r...

"I am sorry it had to happen," the other remarked; "but while there's life there's hope. Jasper is no novice in woodcraft. Those Frenchmen and their red allies will find it no e...

"There, did you see him that time?" the other asked, as cautiously as though he believed every sleeping Indian possessed such keen hearing that a very small sound would awaken him.

"THEY are all snowed under, I fear, Dick!" Roger thus remarked after they had been struggling along for some time, without seeing a living thing save some crows that flew over t...

"Well, Dick, I hope to outgrow that fault in time. You know my father was the same way, when he and Uncle Bob used to hunt and trap and fish on the Ohio River, and later along t...

APPARENTLY it was not the design of Lascelles to starve his prisoners, for later on he had them untied, and gave them a chance to devour some of the crudely cooked buffalo meat....

"Yes," explained Dick, "that is what has happened, as near as I can tell. But, after all, it may not be so serious a thing. We will see what can be done about breaking through."

"And the trembling of the rocks under our feet, too! That must have been caused by something like this. The hot spring where we said we could have cooked an egg, or made our tea...

These words burst from Roger's lips as he stood gazing at the wonderful sight. Of course he referred to the strange tales which they had heard from some of the Mandans, and whic...