xcept the Civil War. More American soldiers fell at St. Clair's defeat
by the Northwestern Indians than in any other battle we had ever fought
until Bull Run. The British dead at Braddock's disaster in the American
wilderness outnumbered the British dead at Trafalgar nearly two to one.
So valiant a race has always appealed to youth, at least, as a fit
subject of romance.

The long struggle with the brave and wary red men bred a type of white
foresters who became fully their equals in the craft and lore of the
wilderness. Such as these stood as a shield between the infant
settlements and the fierce tribes, and, in this class, the author has
placed his heroes.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I PASSING FLEET 1

II THE SILVER BULLET 16

III THE HOT SPRING 30

IV THE SEVEN HERALDS 39

V THE WYANDOT COUNCIL 51

VI THE RUINED VILLAGE 63

VII THE TAKING OF HENRY 79

VIII THE NORTHWARD MARCH 96

IX AT DETROIT 109

X THE LETTER OF THE FOUR 126

XI THE CRY FROM THE FOREST 143

XII THE CANOE ON THE RIVER 157

XIII ON THE GREAT LAKE 173

XIV A TIMELY RESCUE 188

XV THE PAGES OF A BOOK 205

XVI THE RIVER FIGHT 226

XVII THE ROAD TO WAREVILLE 241

XVIII THE SHADOWY FIGURE 265

XIX A HERALD BY WATER 282

XX THE COUNTER-STROKE 316

XXI THE BATTLE OF PIQUA 336

XXII THE LAST STAND 359

THE BORDER WATCH

CHAPTER I

THE PASSING FLEET

A late sun, red and vivid, cast beams of light over a dark river,
flowing slowly. The stream was a full half mile from shore to shore, and
the great weight of water moved on in silent majesty. Both banks were
lined with heavy forest, dark green by day, but fused now into solid
blackness by the approach of night.

The scene was wild and primordial. To an eye looking down it would have
seemed that man had never come there, and that this was the dawn of
time. The deep waters lapped the silent shore until a gentle sighing
sound arose, a sound that may have gone on unheard for ages. Close to
the water a file of wild ducks flew like an arrow to the north, and, in
a little cove where the current came in shallow waves, a stag bent his
head to