I. MY FIRST WINTER IN CHICAGO 1 II. I RETURN TO THE SADDLE 13 III. IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF GENERAL GRANT 24 IV. RED MEN AND BUFFALO 38 V. THE TELEGRAPH TRAIL 53 VI. THE RETURN OF THE ARTIST 70 VII. LONDON AND EVENING DRESS 86 VIII. THE CHOICE OF THE NEW DAUGHTER 97 IX. A JUDICIAL WEDDING 122 X. THE NEW DAUGHTER AND THANKSGIVING 140 XI. MY FATHER'S INHERITANCE 153 XII. WE TOUR THE OKLAHOMA PRAIRIE 171 XIII. STANDING ROCK AND LAKE MCDONALD 184 XIV. THE EMPTY ROOM 204 BOOK II XV. A SUMMER IN THE HIGH COUNTRY 219 XVI. THE WHITE HOUSE MUSICAL 237 XVII. SIGNS OF CHANGE 247 XVIII. THE OLD PIONEER TAKES THE BACK TRAIL 262 XIX. NEW LIFE IN THE OLD HOUSE 271 XX. MARY ISABEL'S CHIMNEY 289 XXI. THE FAIRY WORLD OF CHILDHOOD 307 XXII. THE OLD SOLDIER GAINS A GRANDDAUGHTER 326 XXIII. "CAVANAGH" AND THE "WINDS OF DESTINY" 341 XXIV. THE OLD HOMESTEAD SUFFERS DISASTER 355 XXV. DARKNESS JUST BEFORE THE DAWN 369 XXVI. SPRAY OF WILD ROSES 381 XXVII. A SOLDIER OF THE UNION MUSTERED OUT 389 AFTERWORD 400 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ILLUSTRATIONS Isabel Clintock Garland, A Daughter of the Middle Border Frontispiece Zulime Taft: The New Daughter Frontispiece FACING PAGE Miss Zulime Taft, acting as volunteer housekeeper for the colony 104 At last the time came when I was permitted to take my wife--lovely as a Madonna--out into the sunshine 287 The old soldier loved to take the children on his knees and bask in the light of the fire 304 Entirely subject to my daughter, who regarded me as a wonderful giant, I paid tribute to her in song and story 322 That night as my daughters "dressed up" as princesses, danced in the light of our restored hearth, I forgot all the disheartenment which the burning of the house had brought upon me 368