E-text prepared by Al Haines Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this file which includes the original illustrations. See 15608-h.htm or 15608-h.zip: (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/5/6/0/15608/15608-h/15608-h.htm) or (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/5/6/0/15608/15608-h.zip) IN THE DAYS OF POOR RICHARD by IRVING BACHELLER Author of _The Light in The Clearing_, _A Man for the Ages_, etc. Illustrated by John Wolcott Adams Indianapolis The Bobbs-Merrill Company Publishers Press Of Braunworth & Co Book Manufacturers Brooklyn, N. Y. 1922 [Frontispiece: A young John Irons and Margaret Hare in the forest.] TO MY FRIEND ALBERT J. BEVERIDGE Discerning Student and Interpreter of the Spirit of the Prophets, the Struggle of the Heroes and the Wisdom of the Founders of Democracy, I Dedicate This Volume. FOREWORD Much of the color of the love-tale of Jack and Margaret, which is a part of the greater love-story of man and liberty, is derived from old letters, diaries, and newspaper clippings in the possession of a well-known American family. CONTENTS CHAPTER BOOK ONE I The Horse Valley Adventure II Sowing the Dragon's Teeth III The Journey to Philadelphia IV The Crossing V Jack Sees London and the Great Philosopher VI The Lovers VII The Dawn VIII An Appointment and a Challenge IX The Encounter X The Lady of the Hidden Face XI The Departure XII The Friend and the Girl He Left Behind Him BOOK TWO XIII The Ferment XIV Adventures in the Service of the Commander-in-Chief XV In Boston Jail XVI Jack and Solomon Meet the Great Ally XVII With the Army and in the Bush XVIII How Solomon Shifted the Skeer XIX The Voice of a Woman Sobbing XX The First Fourth of July XXI The Ambush XXII The Binkussing of Colonel Burley XXIII The Greatest Trait of a Great Commander BOOK THREE XXIV In France with Franklin XXV The Pageant XXVI In Which Appears the Horse of Destiny and the Judas of Washington's Army XXVII Which Contains the Adventures of Solomon in the Timber Sack and on the "Hand-made River" XXVIII In Which Arnold and Henry Thornhill Arrive in the Highlands XXIX Love and Treason XXX "Who Is She that Looketh Forth as the Morning, Fair as the Moon, Clear as the Sun, and Terrible as an Army with Banners?" XXXI The Lovers and Solomon's Last Fight BOOK ONE CHAPTER I THE HORSE VALLEY ADVENTURE