A Fortune Hunter; Or, The Old Stone Corral: A Tale of the Santa Fe Trail Read online




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  A FORTUNE HUNTER;

  OR,

  THE OLD STONE CORRAL.

  A Tale of the Santa Fe Trail.

  by

  JOHN DUNLOE CARTERET.

  Cincinnati:Printed for the Author.1888.

  Copyrighted, 1886.

  CONTENTS.

  CHAPTER I.

  Nature's Blank Page--The Old Stone Corral--The Lost Treasure of Monteluma--Camp-fires--The Warlow and Moreland Families--The Camp on the Cottonwood--A Tale of the Camp-fire 7

  CHAPTER II.

  Colonel Warlow's Story--Bruce Walraven--The Heiress of Monteluma--The Vale of Mexico--Bandits--The Rescue--The Web of Destiny 19

  CHAPTER III.

  Breakfast on the Plains--Colonel Warlow's Story Continued--Bruce Walraven's Creed--Blood-drenched Malvern Hill--The Dim Crest of Orizaba--Roses and Thorns--The Wealth of Monteluma--A Cask of Gold--The Casket of Gems--The Overland Journey--A Dark Tragedy 29

  CHAPTER IV.

  Colonel Warlow's Story Continued--Los Angeles--A Friend in Need--A Storm on the Pacific--Shipwreck--Under the Waves 48

  CHAPTER V.

  Colonel Warlow's Story Continued--Alone--The Castaway--The Golden Gate to Home Sweet Home--Acapulco--Roger--The Isthmus of Panama 57

  CHAPTER VI.

  Colonel Warlow's Story Continued--The Tropical Groves of Cuba--The Coffee Plantation--A Blooming Christmas--The Tomb of Columbus--The Roses and Passion-flowers of Cuba--The Warm Hearts of Home--Ah! Such a Day can never come Again--Snow-drifts, Sleigh-bells, and Sweethearts--Mary, etc. 71

  CHAPTER VII.

  Colonel Warlow's Story Concluded--The Wool-picking--The Squire's Harrow--Wedding Bells--Profit and Loss--The Spectre of the Stone Corral 79

  CHAPTER VIII.

  The Monotony of Frontier Life--New Homes--Voting Bonds--The Grasshopper Raid--Back to the Land of the Mother-in-law--Grim Famine's Shadow--The Flood--A Strange Weird Sight 87

  CHAPTER IX.

  A Raging Torrent--The Crows' Nest--An Aerial Family--"Kansis oR buST" 100

  CHAPTER X.

  The Picnic--A Biled Vest--A Dark-eyed Maid with her Sweet Guitar--Mora Estill--Fishing, etc., but Principally the Latter--"We have met before"--The Gray Spectre--The Mystery-wrapped Grave of the Hill-top--Rough as a Farmer--Transmigration of Souls 108

  CHAPTER XI.

  A Western Call--Mystery--The Call lengthens into a Western Visit--Spring Chicken and Mystery 126

  CHAPTER XII.

  False Riches--A Young Fortune Hunter--The Santa Fe Trail--Searching for the Gold of Monteluma--The Serpent's Warning Rattle--The Stare of Death--The Gray Spectre 144

  CHAPTER XIII.

  A Western Wheat-field--A Visit to Estill's Ranch--A Skeleton in the Estill Closet--An Art Critic who was "Beef to the Heel"--Very Undairy-like--A Trace of Mystery 159

  CHAPTER XIV.

  Phantoms of the Past--That "Unspeakable" Rob Warlow--The Running-gears, if you please--The Clouds thicken--A Glimpse of the Past 179

  CHAPTER XV.

  The Mysterious Trail--The Secret Cell--A Voice from the Past--The Journal of Ivarene 194

  CHAPTER XVI.

  The Web of Mystery--The Gems of Monteluma--A Scene of Bewildering Beauty 203

  CHAPTER XVII.

  The Red Gold of Monteluma--My Father's Doubloons--The Phantom--A Million of Treasure 211

  CHAPTER XVIII.

  The Course of True Love--The Cattle-king's Daughter--Flirtation and Practicing--"Your Music makes me Home-sick"--A Dubious Compliment--A Western View of Classic Music--Schubert's Serenade, in which Rob has the "Cheek" to assert that he can recognize the very Bar in that Masterpiece, where the Old Man turns the Bull-dog loose--A Couple of Idiots--Where Grace's Fingers itch to pull Cliff's Ears--A Lover whose Lip hangs Very Low--That Contemptible Thing, a Fortune Hunter 220

  CHAPTER XIX.

  A Strange Theory--Our Bodies may be tenanted by Souls that have lived before--Farewell, my Native Land--A Glimmering Circle of Phantom Warriors--A Haunted Spot--The Crossing of the Santa Fe and Abilene Trails--The Picnic--A Scene that was too Rich for my Blood 239

  CHAPTER XX.

  My Long-lost Gold--A Hero who dripped at the Nose like a Hydrant--An Embarrassment of Riches--The Mirage--The Valley of the Smoky Hill--The Iron Mound and Soldier's Cap--The Mennonite Colony--A Gigantic Land-sale--Eagle Beak--The Wailing Wolf of the Hill-top--A Strange Creed--A Stately Mansion--The Grave-lights of Antelope Butte--A Comforting and Seductive Theory--We may be re-born and live again to enjoy the Happiness lost by Death 259

  CHAPTER XXI.

  The Skeletons on Antelope Butte--The Serene Wedding Morn at the Stone Corral--We Live Again--Wedding Festivities--The End 285

  A FORTUNE HUNTER:

  OR,

  THE OLD STONE CORRAL.