Field and Forest - The Fortunes of a Farmer

Oliver Optic

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• Publié par: kolep
• Publié le: 08 décembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 12
• Langue: English

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The Project Gutenberg EBook of Field and Forest, by Oliver Optic
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Title: Field and Forest
The Fortunes of a Farmer
Author: Oliver Optic
Release Date: February 11, 2008 [EBook #24582]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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OLD MATT AND THE HORSE-THIEVES.
PAGE 12.THE UPWARD AND ONWARD SERIES.
F I E L D A N D F O R E S T ;
OR,
THE FORTUNES OF A FARMER.
By
OLIVER OPTIC,
AUTHOR OF "YOUNG AMERICA ABROAD," "THE ARMY AND NAVY STORIES," "THE WOODVILLE STORIES," "THE BOAT-CLUB STORIES," "THE
STARRY FLAG STORIES," "THE LAKE-SHORE
STORIES," ETC.
WITH FOURTEEN ILLUSTRATIONS.
BOSTON:
LEE AND SHEPARD.
NEW YORK:
CHARLES T. DILLINGHAM.
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1870,
BY WILLIAM T. ADAMS,
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
ELECTROTYPED AT THE
BOSTON STEREOTYPE FOUNDRY.
TO
MY EXCELLENT YOUNG FRIEND
CHARLES H. FOWLE
IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED.
THE UPWARD AND ONWARD SERIES.

1. Field and Forest; or, The Fortunes of a Farmer.
2. Plane and Plank; or, The Mishaps of a Mechanic.
3. Desk and Debit; or, The Catastrophes of a Clerk.
4. Cringle and Cross-Tree; or, The Sea Swashes of
a Sailor.
5. Bivouac and Battle; or, The Struggles of a Soldier.
6. Sea and Shore; or, the Tramps of a Traveller.
PREFACE."Field and Forest" is the first of The Upward And Onward Series, in which
the career of a youth from his childhood to manhood is illustrated and
described. In following out the plan which the author adopted when he
began to write books for the young, and which he has steadily pursued in
the fifty volumes now before the public, he has endeavored to make his
hero a young man of high aims and lofty purposes, however strange,
stirring, or even improbable his adventures might seem. Phil Farringford,
the leading character of this series, though he may have some of the
conceit which belongs to youth, is always honest, true to principle, and
faithful to the light which he seeks in the gospel, and in all the other sources
of wisdom. He aims to be a Christian young man, respects and loves all the
institutions of religion, and labors to make his life an "Upward and Onward"
progress.
The scene of the story is laid upon the waters of the upper Missouri: and
while the writer hopes the reader will find the story sufficiently stirring and
exciting to engage his attention, he also trusts that Phil's Christian
principles, his reverence for the Bible, and his devotion to duty and
principle, will receive the earnest consideration of his young friends.
Harrison Square, Boston,
June 6, 1870.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
CHAPTER I.
In which Phil comes home with Plenty of Fish. 11
CHAPTER II.
In which Phil finds the Camp of the Indians. 21
CHAPTER III.
In Which Phil takes good Care of the Horses. 32
CHAPTER IV.
In which Phil loses an old and valued Friend. 42
CHAPTER V.
In which Phil follows Kit Cruncher. 53
CHAPTER VI.
In which Phil assists in the building of a Block
House. 63
CHAPTER VII.
In which Phil and his Friends guard the Castle. 74
CHAPTER VIII.
In which Phil sees the first Young Lady he ever saw. 85
CHAPTER IX. In which Phil has a Visitor at the Castle. 95
CHAPTER X.
In which Phil visits Paradise, and fires at an Indian. 106
CHAPTER XI.
In which Phil Engages in the Pursuit of the Indians. 116
CHAPTER XII.
In which Phil takes deliberate Aim at one of the
Captors of Ella. 127
CHAPTER XIII.
In which Phil and his companion arrive at the Cabin
of Kit Cruncher. 138
CHAPTER XIV.
In which Phil rows the Barge up the Big Fish River. 149
CHAPTER XV.
In which Phil and his Companions start for the
Castle. 160
CHAPTER XVI.
In which Phil arrives at the Castle. 171
CHAPTER XVII.
In which Phil conducts the Soldiers to the Line of
Defence. 182
CHAPTER XVIII.
In which Phil fights the Indians on the Island. 193
CHAPTER XIX.
In which Phil conducts the Raft to the Landing, and
Morgan fires the Big Gun. 204
CHAPTER XX.
In which Phil witnesses the Opening of the Battle
with the Indians. 215
CHAPTER XXI.
In which Phil sees the Conclusion of the War. 226
CHAPTER XXII.
In which Phil undertakes a heavy Job. 236
CHAPTER XXIII.
In which Phil's Reconstruction Plan is fully set forth. 247
CHAPTER XXIV.
In which Phil and His Friends examine the Contents
of the Chest. 257
CHAPTER XXV.
In which Phil attends to the Affairs of the Farm. 268
CHAPTER XXVI.
In which Phil, with his Fortune as a Farmer, bids
Farewell to Field and Forest. 278FIELD AND FOREST;
OR,
THE FORTUNES OF A FARMER.

CHAPTER I.
IN WHICH PHIL COMES HOME WITH PLENTY OF FISH.
"Hollo, Phil!"
That was the name to which I answered, especially when it was spoken as
decidedly as on the present occasion.
"I'm coming," I replied, at the top of my lungs.
I had been a-fishing in a stream which flowed into the Missouri about a mile
above my home. I had been very successful, and had as many fish as I
could carry. I was gathering them up, after I had fastened my bateau to the
stake, and intended to convey them to the Castle, as our log hut was rather
facetiously called by its owner.
"Phil! Phil!" repeated the voice above the bluff of the river.
It was Matt Rockwood who called; and as he was the only master and
guardian I had ever known, I always obeyed him—when I could not help
doing so. His tones were more imperative than before, and I proceeded
with greater haste to gather up my fish, stringing them upon some willow
twigs I had just cut for the purpose.
Crack went a rifle. The sound startled me, and, dropping my fish, I ran up
the steep bank of the river to the summit of the bluff on which the Castle
was located.
"What's the matter?" I asked, when I reached the spot by the side of the
house where Matt stood.
"Don't you see?" he replied, raising his rifle again, and taking aim.
I looked in the direction towards which his weapon was directed, and saw
two Indians, mounted, each of whom had a led horse.
"Them pesky Injuns hes stole our hosses," added old Matt, as he fired his
rifle the second time. "'Tain't no use; I might as well shoot at the north star."
The two Indians, with their animals, disappeared in the forest beyond the
clearing, and Matt's last chance was gone. A few years earlier in the lifeexperience of the old squatter, the thieves would not have escaped so
easily, for Matt was a dead shot before the rheumatism took hold of him.
Now he hobbled about a little on a pair of rude crutches I had made for him;
but his eyes were rather weak, and his arm was unsteady. His rifle was no
longer unerring, and the thieving savages could plunder him with impunity.
There was an Indian village about ten miles from the Castle, and from the
known character of its inhabitants, and the direction the marauders had
taken, we concluded they had come from there. I went into the house, and
procured my rifle—a light affair, which old Matt had purchased on board a
trading steamer for my use.
"'Tain't no use, Phil. You needn't run arter 'em," said the old man, shaking
his head. "You don't expect to run fast enough to ketch Injuns on hossback
—do you?"
On second thought I concluded to take his view of the matter.
"But we can't afford to lose them hosses, Phil," continued old Matt, as he
hobbled to a seat. "And if we can, them Injuns shan't hev 'em. I ain't a-goin'
to hev old Firefly rid by them critters, and starved, and abused—I ain't a-
goin' to do it! Them hosses must be got back. You're gittin' old enough to do
sunthin' with Injuns now, Phil, and you must git them hosses back agin."
"I'm ready to do anything I can; but, if I can't catch the Indians, what shall I
do?" I replied.
"We can't do a thing in the field without them hosses, Phil; and 'tain't no use
to try. We can't plough the ground, and we can't haul no wood. We must
hev them hosses back agin, if I hev to hobble arter 'em myself."
"What can I do?" I asked, willing to fight the Indians if necessary; and I was
rather impatient over the amount of talk the old man bestowed upon the
subject.
"I'll tell you what to do, Phil. Hosses is skuss with them varmints. It's been a
hard winter for vagabonds as don't lay up nothin' for cold weather, and they
lost half their hosses—starved 'em to death. Them critters they rid on wan't
nothin' but frames, and you could hear their bones rattle when they tr