book cover of On the Trail of Geronimo
 

On the Trail of Geronimo

(1901)
Or, in the Apache Country
A novel by

 
 
I. At West Point 5

II. On the Road to Arizona 12

III. "Hands up" 18

IV. Toward the Gorge 28

V. Over the Precipice 33

VI. By the Roadside 40

VII. At the Bottom of the Gorge 54

VIII- An Unwelcome Caller 62

IX. Geronimo 69

X. Out of the Gorge 79

XI. Warm Work 85

XII. Three Cheers 93

XIII. Gone! 102

XIV. A Mass of Rocks Ill

XV. The Account Closed 119

XVI. The Mountain Ravine ,.. 131

XVII. They are There 139

XVIII. One of Many 147

XIX. At the Harland Ranch 150

XX. A Surprise Party 167

XXI. Good-bye 175

4 CONTENTS.

CHAPTER PAGB

XXII. In Camp 183

XXIII. A Pursuit and Capture 194

XXIV. A Close Call 202

XXV. Facing Eastward 210

XXVI. Comrades Once More 221

XXVII. A Strange Ambush 228

XXVIII. Close Quarters 240

XXIX. The Signal Fire 247

XXX. At the Burned Ranch 254

XXXI. A Laugh 265

XXXII. The Apache Camp Fire 272

XXXIII. A Daring Exploit 279

XXXIV. At the Base of the Mountain 290

XXXV. The Prisoner of State 298

XXXVI. Captors and Captives 305

XXXVII. Negotiating 315

XXXVLL1. Conclusion 321

ON THE TRAIL OF GERONIMO.

CHAPTER I.

AT WEST POINT.

AT last the four years' arduous course at West
Point Academy was finished.

Who of us that have been through the study,
drill and training at that admirable institution can
forget a single day of the eventful term spent
there ?

With what timidity we made our way up the
long, sloping hill to the array of buildings and
presented our "appointment," which some of us
had brought all the way from the Pacific slope or
the Gulf, picturing in our mind what West Point
looked like, and how we would conduct ourselves
after we got there? And, as is always the case,
how different the reality proved from the ideal !

And then what could look more awe inspiring
than the upper classmen, as we caught sight of

G ON THE TEAIL OF GERONUIO.

them here, there, and everywhere, eying us as we
can imagine that cannibals might eye a party of
prisoners from which they are to select their
victims.

It all comes back again. How those grim old
physicians, after compelling us to shed every
thread of clothing, examined us from head to foot.
They thumped our ribs, listened to the heart beats,
tested our eyesight, and so on, until we felt as
though we would give worlds to get out of the
torture room .and back again to the farm or shop.

There was Dolph Ashton, who had come all the
way from Oregon. He was one of the brightest
youths ever born on the Pacific slope, and was
intended by nature for a soldier. He stripped like
a young Adonis, and his mental attainments were
marvelous.

But alas ! one of his eyes was a little deficient,
and proved unequal to the work of reading a line
of fine print shown on the opposite side of the
room. Dolph whistled cheerily as he packed his
trunk and started for his distant home, but all the
same I caught the glisten of the tears under his
eyelids, which he thought no one of us saw.

We had it pretty rough during the first year.....


Genre: General Fiction

Used availability for Edward Sylvester Ellis's On the Trail of Geronimo


About Fantastic Fiction       Information for Authors