Produced by Stephen Hope, Barbara Kosker, Michael and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net THE PLOW-WOMAN BY ELEANOR GATES Author of The Biography of a Prairie Girl [Illustration] NEW YORK McCLURE, PHILLIPS & CO. MCMVI _Copyright, 1906, by_ McCLURE, PHILLIPS & CO. Published, September, 1906 Copyright, 1906, by The Pearson Publishing Company _To Robert Underwood Johnson, Esq._ CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. IN THE FURROW 3 II. A TRIP AND TROUBLE AHEAD 17 III. DALLAS MAKES A FRIEND 30 IV. MISUNDERSTANDINGS 41 V. THE DESPISED 52 VI. FROM DODGE CITY 62 VII. OUT OF THE SKY 76 VIII. BEFORE THE WARPED DOOR 86 IX. A HAND IN THE FUN 96 X. AN APPEAL TO HEADQUARTERS 106 XI. A LITTLE STRATEGY 118 XII. A CONFESSION 129 XIII. A PROPOSAL AND A PROMISE 134 XIV. ANOTHER PROMISE 145 XV. NECESSITY 151 XVI. BACK FROM THE WINTER CAMP 169 XVII. THE AWAKENING 178 XVIII. THE SMOKING MOUNTAIN 191 XIX. AL BRADEN OF SIOUX FALLS 200 XX. A CHARGE 210 XXI. A MEETING BY THE FORD 216 XXII. A FIRST WARNING 223 XXIII. AND WHAT FOLLOWED IT 228 XXIV. THE SPIRIT OF THE FRONTIER 245 XXV. THE INQUIRY 254 XXVI. BACKSLIDING 264 XXVII. SIMON PLAYS A PART 270 XXVIII. A CHANGE IN PLAN 277 XXIX. LOUNSBURY'S RETURN 284 XXX. THE TRYST 297 XXXI. BY THE LIGHT OF A MATCH 303 XXXII. THE EVE OF OTHER THINGS 309 XXXIII. THE END OF A DREAM 312 XXXIV. FIRE AND ESCAPE 318 XXXV. THE LAST WARNING 325 XXXVI. SOME UNEXPECTED DISCOVERIES 330 XXXVII. THE FLIGHT TO MURPHY'S THROAT 335 XXXVIII. FRASER HEARS A CALL 342 XXXIX. STANDING AT BAY 345 XL. SOME ENDINGS AND BEGINNINGS 351