Produced by David Garcia, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Kentuckiana Digital Library) THE COURIER OF THE OZARKS THE YOUNG MISSOURIANS SERIES BY BYRON A. DUNN AUTHOR OF "THE YOUNG KENTUCKIANS" SERIES WITH EIGHT ILLUSTRATIONS BY H. S. DeLAY CHICAGO A. C. McCLURG & CO. 1912 Copyright A. C. McCLURG & CO. 1912 Published September, 1912 W. F. HALL PRINTING COMPANY, CHICAGO _To the Loyal Men of Missouri, who as members of the militia did so much to save the State to the Union, this book is dedicated. History gives them scant notice, and the Federal government has failed to reward them as they deserve._ [Illustration: "Follow the colors," he shouted.] PREFACE During the year 1862, after the capture of Island No. 10 and New Madrid, no large armies operated in Missouri; but the State was the theater of a desperate guerrilla warfare, in which nearly or quite a hundred thousand men took part. It was a warfare the magnitude of which, at the present time, is very little known; and its cruelty and barbarity make a bloody page in the history of those times. This book is a story of this warfare. It is a story of adventure, of hair-breadth escapes, and of daring deeds. In it the same characters figure as those in _With Lyon in Missouri_ and _The Scout of Pea Ridge_. It tells how our young heroes were instrumental in thwarting the great conspiracy by which the Confederate government, by sending officers into the State, and organizing the different guerrilla bands into companies and regiments, was in hopes of wresting the State from Federal control. As in former books, history is closely followed. BYRON A. DUNN. Waukegan, Illinois. _August, 1912._ CONTENTS I BRUNO CARRIES A MESSAGE II AN INTERNECINE WAR III A MYSTERIOUS COMMUNICATION IV MOORE'S MILL V A FIGHT IN THE NIGHT VI KIRKSVILLE VII POINDEXTER CAPTURED VIII LONE JACK IX CAPTURED BY GUERRILLAS X THE GUERRILLA'S BRIDE XI THE STORY OF CARL MEYER XII THE NEWS FROM CORINTH XIII PORTER CAPTURES PALMYRA XIV TEN LIVES FOR ONE XV A GIRL OF THE OZARKS XVI A WOUNDED CONFEDERATE XVII TRAILING RED JERSEY XVIII LIVE--I CANNOT SHOOT YOU XIX MARK HAS A RIVAL XX CAPTURING A TRAIN XXI THE OLD MAN OF THE MOUNTAINS XXII MARK CONFESSES HIS LOVE XXIII INTO THE LION'S MOUTH XXIV PRAIRIE GROVE XXV CALLED TO OTHER FIELDS ILLUSTRATIONS "Follow the colors," he shouted. "Halt the advance. Ambuscade!" gasped Harry. Down the street they rode at full speed. "You pretend to be men and call this war?" To catch the rider as he reeled from the saddle. Her revolver was pointed at his breast. He was looking into the muzzle of a revolver. An old man leaning on a staff. THE COURIER OF THE OZARKS