+-------------------------------------------------+ |Transcriber's note: | | | |Obvious typographic errors have been corrected. | | | +-------------------------------------------------+ [Illustration: THE MYSTERIOUS LETTER] THE YOUNG GAME-WARDEN BY HARRY CASTLEMON AUTHOR OF "THE HOUSE-BOAT BOYS," "GUNBOAT SERIES," "ROCKY MOUNTAIN SERIES," ETC. THE JOHN C. WINSTON CO. PHILADELPHIA CHICAGO TORONTO COPYRIGHT, 1896, BY HENRY T. COATES & CO. CONTENTS. CHAPTER PAGE I. SILAS MORGAN, 5 II. THE BROTHERS, 17 III. THE MYSTERIOUS LETTER, 31 IV. HOBSON'S HOUSE, 45 V. WHAT DAN OVERHEARD, 55 VI. THE YOUNG GAME-WARDEN, 66 VII. BROTHERLY LOVE, 77 VIII. JOE'S PLANS IN DANGER, 89 IX. VOLUNTEERS, 100 X. WHY THE LETTER WAS WRITTEN, 109 XI. THE PLOT SUCCEEDS, 121 XII. A MYSTERY, 134 XIII. DAN IS SCARED, 146 XIV. THE "HANT," 158 XV. JOE'S NEW HOME, 169 XVI. JOE'S "FIRST OFFICIAL ACT," 181 XVII. WHO FIRED THE FOUR SHOTS? 194 XVIII. DAN'S SECRET, 205 XIX. DAN TELLS HIS STORY, 216 XX. A RUN FOR HOME, 228 XXI. A TREACHEROUS GUIDE, 240 XXII. MR. BROWN TAKES HIS DEPARTURE, 252 XXIII. EXPLORING THE CAVE, 264 XXIV. ROBBERS, 277 XXV. WHAT THE GRIP-SACK CONTAINED, 289 XXVI. MR. HALLET HEARS THE NEWS, 302 XXVII. JOE'S PLANS, 315 XXVIII. CAPTURE OF BOB EMERSON, 326 XXIX. THE HUNT FOR THE ROBBERS, 338 XXX. BRIERLY'S SQUAD CAPTURES A ROBBER, 350 XXXI. SILAS IN LUCK AT LAST, 362 XXXII. BOB EMERSON'S STORY, 374 XXXIII. TURNING OVER A NEW LEAF, 386 XXXIV. THE TRANSFORMATION, 399 THE YOUNG GAME-WARDEN. CHAPTER I. SILAS MORGAN. "I do think in my soul that of all the mean things a white man has to do, hauling wood on a hot day like this is the very meanest." The speaker was Silas Morgan--a tall, broad-shouldered man, whose tattered garments and snail-like movements proclaimed him to be the very personification of indolence and shiftlessness.