COWMEN AND RUSTLERS A Story of the Wyoming Cattle Ranges BY EDWARD S. ELLIS AUTHOR OF "LOG CABIN SERIES," "BOONE AND KENTON SERIES," ETC. WITH FOUR FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS BY W.M. CARY MCMIV CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. A MERRY GROUP II. A WARNING FROM THE WOODS III. THE FLIGHT OVER THE ICE IV. THE REPORT OF GUNS V. LOOKING SOUTHWARD VI. COWMEN AND RUSTLERS VII. THE WARNING VIII. GOOD-BY IX. A SUMMONS AND A REPLY X. A HOT PURSUIT XI. A STRANGE DIVERSION XII. THE BACK TRAIL XIII. A CONSULTATION XIV. UNWELCOME CALLERS XV. THE "DOG INDIANS" XVI. AN UNPLEASANT VISIT XVII. A DELICATE SITUATION XVIII. A MISCALCULATION XIX. THE BURNED RANCH XX. THE TRUCE XXI. A MESSENGER IN HASTE XXII. IMPORTANT TIDINGS XXIII. AT BAY XXIV. THE PRIMITIVE FORT XXV. THE FLAG or TRUCE XXVI. THE UNDERGROUND MISSIVE XXVII. ON PAROLE XXVIII. THE FINAL SUMMONS XXIX. A STRANGE OCCURRENCE XXX. THE MISSING ONE XXXI. WHY IT WAS DONE XXXII. THE HOSTAGE XXXIII. THE PRISONER XXXIV. OUT IN THE NIGHT XXXV. CONCLUSION LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. "FIRED TWO MORE BARRELS" "COMING STRAIGHT TOWARD HIM" "A MASS OF BLAZING EMBERS" "CHALLENGED ON THE EDGE OF THE CAMP" CHAPTER I. A MERRY GROUP. The Whitney household, in the western part of Maine, was filled with sunshine, merriment and delight, on a certain winter evening a few years ago. There was the quiet, thoughtful mother, now past her prime, but with many traces of the beauty and refinement that made her the belle of the little country town until Hugh Whitney, the strong-bearded soldier, who had entered the war as private and emerged therefrom with several wounds and with the eagles of a colonel on his shoulder, carried her away from all admirers and made her his bride. Hugh had been absent a couple of weeks in Montana and Wyoming, whither he was drawn by a yearning of many years' standing to engage in the cattle business. He had received some tuition as a cowboy on the Llano Estacada, and the taste there acquired of the free, wild life, supplemented, doubtless, by his experience during the war, was held in restraint for a time only by his marriage. The absence of the father was the only element lacking to make the household one of the happiest in that section of Maine; but the letter just received from him was so cheerful and affectionate that it added to the enjoyment of the family.