Produced by Al Haines. [Illustration: Cover art] [Illustration: BLACK HAWK RESCUING GILBERT’S FATHER AND MOTHER. PAGE 33] *THE ROMANCE* *OF* *GILBERT HOLMES* AN HISTORICAL NOVEL BY MARSHALL MONROE KIRKMAN AUTHOR OF "THE SCIENCE OF RAILWAYS," IN TWELVE VOLUMES, "PRIMITIVE CARRIERS," ETC., ETC. THE WORLD RAILWAY PUBLISHING COMPANY CHICAGO NEW YORK LONDON 1900 COPYRIGHT 1900 UNITED STATES, GREAT BRITAIN, FRANCE _All rights reserved_ SEVENTEENTH EDITION DEDICATION THE WRITING OF THIS BOOK HAVING BEEN TO ME WHOLLY A LABOR OF LOVE, I DEDICATE IT IN A LIKE SPIRIT TO MY WIFE AND CHILDREN M. M. KIRKMAN LARCHMERE, JULY 10, 1900 *CONTENTS* CHAPTER I. A Sweet Lady II. Gilbert Holmes’s Account Of Himself III. The Wreck IV. Black Hawk, the Sac King V. The Swath of the Hurricane VI. Love’s Ideals VII. Gilbert’s Flight VIII. Gilbert’s Encounter with the Timber-Wolf IX. Driftwood from the Thames Battlefield X. An Awakening XI. The New Country XII. The Unknown Passenger XIII. The Place of Refuge XIV. The Highwayman XV. Constable Blott XVI. Before the Little Justice XVII. The Singletons XVIII. The Shadows of Life XIX. The Duel XX. Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis—the Parting of the Ways XXI. What the Canteens Held XXII. Rolland Love XXIII. Cousin Angeline XXIV. The Fishers XXV. The Conspirators XXVI. Lost in the Forest XXVII. In the Tiger’s Mouth XXVIII. Gilbert and the Highwayman Join Forces XXIX. The Tragedy of Murderer’s Hollow XXX. The Ride for Life XXXI. Constance XXXII. Convalescence XXXIII. The Red Rose of Cuvier River XXXIV. Glimpse of a Summer Sea XXXV. Conspiracy in Black Hawk’s Cabin XXXVI. Phantoms of the Woods XXXVII. The Prodigal XXXVIII. The Dragon’s Master XXXIX. The Depths XL. Job Throckmorton’s Trial: The Tragedy XLI. The Reunion XLII. An Adventure XLIII. On Board the War Eagle XLIV. The Steamboat Race XLV. Telling the News XLVI. The Americans XLVII. Making the Most of Things XLVIII. The Carriers XLIX. The Betrothal L. Under the Widespreading Hawthorns LI. The Mauvaise Terre LII. Life and Death LIII. Where All the Roads Meet *CHAPTER I* *A SWEET LADY*