THE YOUNG ADVENTURER

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE
I MARK NELSON'S FAMILY 3
II TOM FINDS A WALLET 10
III TOM ASKS A LOAN 17
IV TOM ASKS LEAVE OF ABSENCE 25
V TOM RAISES THE MONEY 33
VI TOM ARRIVES IN PITTSBURG 42
VII THE PITTSBURG HOUSE 51
VIII GRAHAM IN HIS TRUE COLORS 59
IX THE "RIVER BELLE" 68
X ON THE STEAMER 76
XI THE FIRST DAY ON THE RIVER 85
XII NO. 61 AND NO. 62 94
XIII GRAHAM'S DISAPPOINTMENT 104
XIV COMING TO AN UNDERSTANDING 113
XV THE ALLEGHANY HOUSE 117
XVI THE EVENTS OF A MORNING 122
XVII TOM'S ARREST 131
XVIII TOM GETS OUT OF HIS DIFFICULTY 140
XIX A MISSOURI TAVERN 149
XX ST. JOE 158
XXI HOW THINGS WENT ON AT HOME 167
XXII THE YOUNG MAN FROM BOSTON 175
XXIII MR. PEABODY'S TROUBLES 184
XXIV A SAD SIGHT 192
XXV A NIGHT PANIC 201
XXVI MR. PEABODY IS WORSTED 209
XXVII THE LOST HORSE 217
XXVIII INDIAN CASUISTRY 221
XXIX A RACE FOR LIFE 230
XXX TOM BECOMES AN INDIAN 234
XXXI TOM GIVES A MAGICAL SOIREE 240
XXXII TOM'S ESCAPE 247

THE YOUNG ADVENTURER.

CHAPTER I.

MARK NELSON'S FAMILY.

"I wish I could pay off the mortgage on my farm," said Mark Nelson
soberly, taking his seat on the left of the fireplace, in the room where
his wife and family were assembled.

"Have you paid the interest, Mark?" asked his wife.

"Yes; I paid it this afternoon, and it has stripped me of money
completely. I have less than five dollars in my pocketbook toward buying
you and the children clothes for the winter."

"Never mind me," said his wife cheerfully. "I am pretty well provided
for."

"Why, mother," said Sarah, the oldest daughter, a girl of fourteen; "you
haven't had a new dress for a year."

"I have enough to last me till spring, at any rate," said the mother.

"You never buy anything for yourself."

"I don't go in rags, do I?" asked Mrs. Nelson, with a smile.

Mrs. Nelson had a happy disposition, which led her to accept
uncomplainingly, and even cheerfully, the sacrifices which, as the wife
of a farmer in poor circumstances, she was compelled to make.

"You are right, Sarah," said Mark Nelson. "Your mother never seems to
think of herself. She might have been much better off if she had not
married me."

The children did not understand this allusion. They had never been told
that their mother had received an offer from Squire Hudson, the
wealthiest man in the village, but had chosen instead to marry Mark
Nelson, whose only property was a small farm, mortgaged for half its
value. Her rejected admirer took the refusal hard, for, as much as it
was possible for him, he loved the prettiest girl in the village, as
Mary Dale was generally regarded. But Mary knew him to be cold and
selfish, and could not make up her mind to marry him. If she had done
so, she would now be living in the finest house in the village, with
the chance of spending the winter in New York or Boston, instead of
drudging in an humble home, where there was indeed enough to eat, but
little money for even necessary purposes. She had never regretted her
decision. Her husband, though poor, was generally respected and liked,
while the squire, though his money procured him a certain degree of
consideration, had no near or attached friends.

THE YOUNG ADVENTURER