Chapter I: Front Matter

[Frontispiece: "'THERE THEY ARE! SEE? BY THE END OF THE HOUSE!' EXCLAIMED PHILIP." (See page 98.)]

THE
LAST THREE SOLDIERS

BY

WILLIAM HENRY SHELTON

NEW YORK
THE CENTURY CO.
1897

Copyright, 1896, 1897, by
THE CENTURY CO.

THE DEVINNE PRESS.

WITH AN APOLOGY TO THE LITTLE SISTER
THAT THE PLOT IS NOT MORE BLOOD-CURDLING AND
HARROWING, THIS STORY OF WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN
IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED TO HIS YOUNG
FRIENDS GUSSIE AND GENIE DEMAREST
BY THE AUTHOR

145 WEST FIFTY-FIFTH STREET,
NEW YORK, September 4, 1897

CONTENTS

CHAPTER

I Completing the Line

II The Old Man of the Mountain

III The Mountain of the Twentieth Red Pin

IV A Day of Discoveries

V The Cipher Code

VI Messages of Dire Disasters

VII In which the Three Soldiers Make a Remarkable Resolution

VIII Which Ends in a Battle

IX The Plateau Receives a Name

X The Prisoners

XI In which the Soldiers Make a Map

XII How the Bear Disgraced Himself

XIII How the Bear Distinguished Himself

XIV Which Gives a Nearer View of the Neighbor Called "Shifless"

XV The Golden Mill

XVI Which Shows that a Mishap is Not Always a Misfortune

XVII How the Postmaster Saw a Ghost

XVIII Knowledge from Above

XIX The Cave of the Bats

XX The Stained-glass Windows and the Prismatic Fowls

XXI A Scrap of Paper

XXII The Deserted House

XXIII Starvation

XXIV The Rescue

XXV Conclusion

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

"'There They Are! See? By the End of the House!' Exclaimed Philip" . . . . . . _Frontispiece_

"It was a Mighty Fortress, Unscalable on its Western Side"

Andy Tells the Story of the Old Man of the Mountain

"Lieutenant Coleman was the First to Ascend, with the Telescope of the Station Strapped on his Shoulders"

"Corporal Bromley Took Position with a Red Flag having a Large White Square in the Center"

"Poor Philip, Left Alone, Burst into Tears"

The Mother Bear Comes for her Cub

"She Rose Suddenly on her Hind Feet and Dealt Him such a Whack as Nearly Broke his Ribs"

Christening the Territory

"The Fowls Hung about the Door"

"Philip Made Up the Most Marvelous Stories, which were Recited before the Fire"

"The Cask was Overturned so that the Yellow Pieces Poured Out upon the Floor"

"They Drove Him Off with Sticks and Stones"

Making a Hundred-dollar Caster

The Golden Mill

Philip on the Edge of the Precipice

"Philip could See the Hole in the Snow, through which He Knew He must have Fallen"

"Rushing Out from under the Trees, They Saw a Huge Balloon Sweeping over their Heads"

"Beyond the Illumination of his Torch He Saw Two Gleaming Eyes"

Exploring the Cave of the Bats

"He was Down on his Hands and Knees upon the Turf"

"The Scrap of Paper"

The Deserted House

The Grave of the Old Man of the Mountain

The Beacon Fire

"He Could Only Cry Out, 'Fred! Fred! Here They Come!'"

"They Looked Hardly Less Comical than Before"

THE LAST THREE SOLDIERS