[Transcriber's Note: Bold text is surrounded by =equal signs= and italic text is surrounded by _underscores_.] THE PIONEER BOYS OF THE MISSISSIPPI [Illustration] OR: THE HOMESTEAD IN THE WILDERNESS THE YOUNG PIONEER SERIES BY HARRISON ADAMS ILLUSTRATED [Illustration] THE PIONEER BOYS OF THE OHIO, Or: Clearing the Wilderness $1.25 THE PIONEER BOYS ON THE GREAT LAKES, Or: On the Trail of the Iroquois 1.25 THE PIONEER BOYS OF THE MISSISSIPPI, Or: The Homestead in the Wilderness 1.25 _Other Volumes in Preparation_ [Illustration] L. C. PAGE & COMPANY 53 Beacon Street, Boston, Mass. [Illustration: "'THE PRECIOUS WAMPUM BELT, SANDY!' HE CRIED." _See page 332._] The Young Pioneer Series THE PIONEER BOYS OF THE MISSISSIPPI OR: THE HOMESTEAD IN THE WILDERNESS By HARRISON ADAMS Author of "The Pioneer Boys of the Ohio," "The Pioneer Boys on the Great Lakes," etc. [Illustration] Illustrated by H. RICHARD BOEHM L. C. PAGE & COMPANY BOSTON [Illustration] MDCCCCXIII [Illustration] _Copyright, 1913, by_ L. C. PAGE & COMPANY (INCORPORATED) _All rights reserved_ First Impression, June, 1913 THE COLONIAL PRESS C. H. SIMONDS & CO. BOSTON, U. S. A. [Illustration] PREFACE DEAR BOYS:--Those of you who have read the earlier volumes in this series of backwoods stories may remember that I half-promised to follow the "Pioneer Boys on the Great Lakes" with a third volume. I now have the pleasure of presenting that story to you. In it you will renew your acquaintance with the two stout-hearted lads of the border, Bob and Sandy Armstrong, as well as several other characters you met before, some of whose names have become famous, and are recorded in the history of those early days that "tried men's souls." Besides this, there are some new characters introduced, who, I hope, will appeal to your interest. It was hardly to be expected that such a restless spirit as that of David Armstrong, the Virginia pioneer who built his log cabin on the bank of the beautiful Ohio, would long rest contented when wonderful stories constantly reached his ears concerning the astonishing fertility of the black soil, as well as the abundance of fur-bearing animals, to be found in the valley of the great river which De Soto had discovered--the mighty Mississippi; and, as you will learn, his first serious set-back caused him to start upon another long pilgrimage toward the "Promised Land." It was this constant rivalry among the early settlers, this never-ending desire to find better homesteads in the new country, always toward the setting sun, that gradually peopled our Middle West, and finally reached out far across the plains to the shore of the Pacific. Trusting that you may enjoy reading the present volume, and that at no distant day we may again renew our acquaintance, believe me, dear readers, to be,