Produced by D. Alexander, Barbara Kosker and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive) THE GREAT SIOUX TRAIL _A STORY OF MOUNTAIN AND PLAIN_ BY JOSEPH A. ALTSHELER AUTHOR OF "THE RULERS OF THE LAKES," "THE SHADOW OF THE NORTH," ETC. [Illustration] ILLUSTRATED BY CHARLES L. WRENN D. APPLETON AND COMPANY NEW YORK LONDON 1918 Copyright, 1918, by D. APPLETON AND COMPANY Printed in the United States of America THE GREAT SIOUX TRAIL By JOSEPH A. ALTSHELER THE CIVIL WAR SERIES The Guns of Bull Run The Guns of Shiloh The Scouts of Stonewall The Sword of Antietam The Star of Gettysburg The Rock of Chickamaugua The Shades of the Wilderness The Tree of Appomattox THE WORLD WAR SERIES The Guns of Europe The Forest of Swords The Hosts of the Air THE YOUNG TRAILERS SERIES The Young Trailers The Forest Runners The Keepers of the Trail The Eyes of the Woods The Free Rangers The Riflemen of the Ohio The Scouts of the Valley The Border Watch THE TEXAN SERIES The Texan Star The Texan Scouts The Texan Triumph THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR SERIES The Hunters of the Hills The Shadow of the North The Rulers of the Lakes BOOKS NOT IN SERIES The Great Sioux Trail Apache Gold The Quest of the Four The Last of the Chiefs In Circling Camps A Soldier of Manhattan The Sun of Saratoga A Herald of the West The Wilderness Road My Captive ---------- D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, NEW YORK [Illustration: A stroke of a great paw and the rifle was dashed from the hands of the old chief. [PAGE 288.]] FOREWORD "The Great Sioux Trail" is the first of a group of romances concerned with the opening of the Great West just after the Civil War, and having a solid historical basis. They will be connected by the presence of leading characters in all the volumes, but every one will be in itself a complete story. CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I THE SIOUX WARNING 1 II THE NARROW ESCAPE 25 III THE LITTLE GIANT 53 IV THE FLIGHT 84 V THE WHITE DOME 111 VI THE OUTLAW 134 VII THE BEAVER HUNTER 157 VIII THE MOUNTAIN RAM 177 IX THE BUFFALO MARCH 199 X THE WAR CLUB'S FALL 229 XI THE YOUNG SLAVE 246 XII THE CAPTIVE'S RISE 266 XIII THE REWARD OF MERIT 290 XIV THE DREADFUL NIGHT 315 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS A stroke of a great paw and the rifle was dashed from the hands of the old chief _Frontispiece_ FACING PAGE The rifle sprang to his shoulder, a jet of flame leaped from the muzzle 48