THE PREACHER OF CEDAR MOUNTAIN A TALE OF THE OPEN COUNTRY BY ERNEST THOMPSON SETON FRONTISPIECE BY CLARENCE ROWE Garden City New York DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY 1917 _Copyright, 1917, by_ Ernest Thompson Seton _All rights reserved, including that of translation into foreign languages, including the Scandinavian_ [Illustration: "'You must choose between us. Is it Belle or Blazing Star?'"] PREFACE Most of the characters in this tale are from life, and some of the main events are historical, although the actual scenes and names are not given. Many men now living will remember Fighting Bill Kenna and the Horse Preacher, as well as the Fort Ryan races. These horse races are especially well known and have been described in print many times. I did not witness any of them myself, but listened on numerous occasions when they were described to me by eye-witnesses. My first knowledge of the secret try-out in Yellowbank Canyon was given to me years ago by Homer Davenport, the cartoonist, with permission to use the same. But all of these more or less historic events are secondary to the intent of illustrating the growth of a character, whose many rare gifts were mere destructive force until curbed and harmonized into the big, strong machine that did such noble work in the West during my early days on the Plains. ERNEST THOMPSON SETON. CONTENTS Preface BOOK I THE CHILD OF THE STABLE YARD I. The Home Land of Little Jim Hartigan II. The Strains That Were Mingled in Jim III. How He Lost His Father IV. The Atmosphere of His Early Days V. Little Jim's Tutors VI. Jim Loses Everything VII. He Gets a Much-needed Lesson BOOK II THE CONVERSION VIII. The Conversion of Jim IX. Jim Hartigan Goes to College X. Escape to Cedar Mountain XI. A New Force Enters His Life XII. Belle Boyd XIII. Preacher Jim's First Sermon XIV. The Lure of the Saddle XV. Pat Bylow's Spree XVI. The New Insurance Agents XVII. Belle Makes a Decision and Jim Evades One XVIII. The Second Bylow Spree XIX. The Day of Reckoning XX. The Memorable Trip to Deadwood XXI. The Ordeal XXII. The Three Religions Confront Him BOOK III THE HORSE PREACHER XXIII. Blazing Star XXIV. Red Rover XXV. The Secret of Yellowbank Canyon XXVI. Preparing for the Day XXVII. The Start XXVIII. The Finish XXIX. The Riders XXX. The Fire XXXI. Love in the Saddle BOOK IV THE HORSE PREACHER AFOOT XXXII. The Advent of Midnight XXXIII. The Sociable XXXIV. Springtime XXXV. When the Greasewood is in Bloom XXXVI. Shoeing the Buckskin XXXVII. The Boom XXXVIII. When the Craze Struck XXXIX. Jim's Bet XL. The Crow Band XLI. The Pinto XLII. The Aftertime XLIII. Finding the Lost One XLIV. A Fair Rider