THE RIVAL TRAPPERS; OR, OLD PEGS, THE MOUNTAINEER. BY LEWIS W. CARSON. NEW YORK: BEADLE AND ADAMS, PUBLISHERS, 98 WILLIAM STREET. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1874, by FRANK STARR & CO., In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. CONTENTS I Old Pegs 9 II Old Pegs’ Treasure 15 III Dave Farrell. Bruin Scouting 23 IV Whirlwind 31 V A Coward’s Deed 38 VI A Great Surprise 46 VII Catching a Tartar 53 VIII A Border Battle 60 IX Unbidden Guests 67 X On the Trail. A Treacherous Act 72 XI The Heroine a Captive 82 XII Dropping the Mask 88 XIII A Dreadful Ordeal—Finis 94 THE RIVAL TRAPPERS; OR, OLD PEGS, THE MOUNTAINEER. CHAPTER I. OLD PEGS. Hush! Is that a footstep coming up the canon? It came nearer and nearer, and a man of strange appearance suddenly stepped into view, rounding a bend in the canon. At the first glance it seemed that he was a dwarf in stature, but as he advanced, it was plainly to be seen that this was a mistake, for those broad shoulders and herculean arms never belonged to a dwarf. In hight he would scarcely have reached five feet, but his girth of shoulder and hip was something wonderful. In short, he had the body of a giant, set upon a pair of legs so crooked and misshapen that it seemed as if he had borrowed those limbs from some one else. He came on with a peculiar, sidelong, hitching gait, swinging out his left leg and throwing forward the shoulder upon that side in an irresistibly ludicrous way, but getting over the ground at a very fair pace. His dress was that of the mountainman, of greasy buck-skin, yet showing the careful hand of woman in the manner in which it was made. He wore fringed leggins, moccasins of ponderous size, and a high bear-skin cap, which added considerably to his ludicrous “make-up.” His weapons were a carefully-polished rifle, a pair of splendid revolvers, a knife and a hatchet.