Chapter I: Preface

During the year 1862, after the capture of Island No. 10 and New Madrid, no large armies operated in Missouri; but the State was the theater of a desperate guerrilla warfare, in which nearly or quite a hundred thousand men took part. It was a warfare the magnitude of which, at the present time, is very little known; and its cruelty and barbarity make a bloody page in the history of those times.

This book is a story of this warfare. It is a story of adventure, of hair-breadth escapes, and of daring deeds. In it the same characters figure as those in _With Lyon in Missouri_ and _The Scout of Pea Ridge_. It tells how our young heroes were instrumental in thwarting the great conspiracy by which the Confederate government, by sending officers into the State, and organizing the different guerrilla bands into companies and regiments, was in hopes of wresting the State from Federal control.

As in former books, history is closely followed.

BYRON A. DUNN.
Waukegan, Illinois.
_August, 1912._

CONTENTS

I BRUNO CARRIES A MESSAGE

II AN INTERNECINE WAR

III A MYSTERIOUS COMMUNICATION

IV MOORE'S MILL

V A FIGHT IN THE NIGHT

VI KIRKSVILLE

VII POINDEXTER CAPTURED

VIII LONE JACK

IX CAPTURED BY GUERRILLAS

X THE GUERRILLA'S BRIDE

XI THE STORY OF CARL MEYER

XII THE NEWS FROM CORINTH

XIII PORTER CAPTURES PALMYRA

XIV TEN LIVES FOR ONE

XV A GIRL OF THE OZARKS

XVI A WOUNDED CONFEDERATE

XVII TRAILING RED JERSEY

XVIII LIVE--I CANNOT SHOOT YOU

XIX MARK HAS A RIVAL

XX CAPTURING A TRAIN

XXI THE OLD MAN OF THE MOUNTAINS

XXII MARK CONFESSES HIS LOVE

XXIII INTO THE LION'S MOUTH

XXIV PRAIRIE GROVE

XXV CALLED TO OTHER FIELDS

ILLUSTRATIONS

"Follow the colors," he shouted.

"Halt the advance. Ambuscade!" gasped Harry.

Down the street they rode at full speed.

"You pretend to be men and call this war?"

To catch the rider as he reeled from the saddle.

Her revolver was pointed at his breast.

He was looking into the muzzle of a revolver.

An old man leaning on a staff.

THE COURIER OF THE OZARKS