[Illustration: “A GIRL WHO SAT--ON A LOW STOOL.”] A FRONTIER KNIGHT _A STORY OF EARLY TEXAN BORDER-LIFE_ BY AMY E. BLANCHARD ILLUSTRATED BY WILLIAM F. STECHER [Illustration] W. A. WILDE COMPANY BOSTON AND CHICAGO _Copyrighted 1905_ BY W. A. WILDE COMPANY _All rights reserved_ A FRONTIER KNIGHT CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. THE OLD KENTUCKY HOME 9 II. FIDGETTY LOU 24 III. THE CHASE 40 IV. OFF TO THE WAR 56 V. IN THE DEAD OF NIGHT 71 VI. FIDGETTY LOU MAKES A DISCOVERY 87 VII. WHEN IRA WAS “SKEERED” 106 VIII. ANOTHER ADVENTURE FOR ALISON 125 IX. WITH HANNAH MARIA 144 X. A RAFFLE 163 XI. LOU’S WEDDING 183 XII. A CLUE 200 XIII. NEAL’S LETTER 217 XIV. WHY BLYTHE WAS LATE 232 XV. SIR KNIGHT 246 XVI. A NORTHER 262 XVII. ALISON AWAKES 279 XVIII. LOLITA 294 XIX. THE RETURN OF SIR ARTEGALL 310 XX. NEW HOMES 327 A FRONTIER KNIGHT CHAPTER I THE OLD KENTUCKY HOME The sun was shining gloriously across level sweeps of blue-grass meadow-land, and sending its beams through the windows of a plain, substantial, country house, where it made squares of brightness on the whitewashed walls, sharply outlining the shadows, and touching to gold the fair hair of a girl who sat motionless on a low stool near the window. She was thinking intently and did not heed the entrance of an older girl who glanced at her with a smile and began to busy herself about the room. Finally the girl at the window gave a deep sigh and stretched her hands above her head. “Oh, is it dinner time, Christine?” she said. “Very near,” was the reply. “What a brown study you were in, Alison; you must have been miles away.” “And so I was. I must decide, you know.” “Yes, I do know.” There was a serious note in Christine’s voice. “And have you decided?” she asked after a pause.