Chapter I: Front Matter

A GENTLE PIONEER

HISTORICAL BOOKS BY AMY E. BLANCHARD.

=A GIRL OF ’76.= A STORY OF THE EARLY PERIOD OF THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. Illustrated. 331 pages. Cloth. $1.50.

=A REVOLUTIONARY MAID.= A STORY OF THE MIDDLE PERIOD OF THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. Illustrated. 321 pages. Cloth. $1.50.

=A DAUGHTER OF FREEDOM.= A STORY OF THE LATTER PERIOD OF THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. Illustrated. 312 pages. Cloth. $1.50.

* * * * *

=A HEROINE OF 1812.= A MARYLAND ROMANCE. Illustrated. 335 pages. Cloth. $1.50.

=A LOYAL LASS.= A STORY OF THE NIAGARA CAMPAIGN OF 1814. Illustrated. 319 pages. Cloth. $1.50.

_IN THE “PIONEER SERIES.”_

=A GENTLE PIONEER.= BEING THE STORY OF THE EARLY DAYS IN THE NEW WEST. Illustrated. 336 pages. Cloth. $1.50.

=BONNY LESLEY OF THE BORDER.= A STORY. Illustrated. 331 pages. Cloth. $1.50.

=A FRONTIER KNIGHT.= A STORY OF EARLY TEXAN BORDER-LIFE. Illustrated. 339 pages. Cloth. $1.50.

A GENTLE PIONEER

_BEING THE STORY OF THE EARLY
DAYS IN THE NEW WEST_

BY
AMY E. BLANCHARD

ILLUSTRATED BY
IDA WAUGH

W. A. WILDE COMPANY
BOSTON AND CHICAGO

_Copyright, 1903_,
BY W. A. WILDE COMPANY.
_All rights reserved._

A GENTLE PIONEER.

Published in July.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I. EMIGRANTS 9

II. THE HOUSEWARMING 24

III. A SEARCH 43

IV. THE UNEXPECTED 58

V. POLLY 73

VI. JEANIE’S SECRET 89

VII. THE INTRUDER 105

VIII. ARCHIE’S PLAN 121

IX. WHAT THE FRESHET BROUGHT 139

X. HONEY 155

XI. AT THE END OF THE VISIT 170

XII. MOTHER 187

XIII. PLOTTING 205

XIV. JEANIE’S WEDDING-DAY 223

XV. WHO HAD THE WILL 241

XVI. A SUPPER AT PARKER WILLETT’S 256

XVII. IN ABSENCE 271

XVIII. THE OVERTHROW OF HUMPHREY 287

XIX. DR. FLINT 304

XX. HER HEART’S DESIRE 321

ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

“She stole her arm around her father’s neck” _Frontispiece_ 2

“Agnes slipped off to a corner where Jeanie found her” 37

“She drew aside the curtain from the little window” 108

“Very sweet did the girlish voices sound” 180

“Parker watched her for a few minutes, not attempting to
help” 263

A GENTLE PIONEER