The Wood King; or, Daniel Boone's last trail

OR,
A ROMANCE OF THE OSAGE COUNTRY.
AUTHOR OF THE FOLLOWING POCKET NOVELS: No. 59. The Texas Hawks. No. 63. The Florida Scout. No. 98. Dusky Dick. No. 101. Redlaw. No. 105. The Indian Spy.
NEW YORK: BEADLE AND ADAMS, PUBLISHERS, No. 98 WILLIAM STREET.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1878, by BEADLE AND ADAMS In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
CHAPTER I.
LIGHTFOOT AND THE WOOD VETERAN.
Crack— crack!
Though faint and far away, there could be no mistaking these sharp, spiteful reports for other than the voice of rifles. The sound was no uncommon one for that region, which is even yet noted for its quantity of game; half a century since the Osage Country was truly a hunter's paradise.
A man was crossing the Osage river, at a ford, and though near the middle of the stream, the water barely reached his knees. As the twin reports came echoing across the eastern forest, the hunter abruptly paused, bending his head, listening intently.
The rifle-shots alone could scarcely have occasioned the surprise written so plainly upon the man's features, since this was hunting-ground common to all—red as well as white. He himself had fired more than once that day.
But closely following the reports came a series of short, peculiar yells—the cries so strongly resembling the yelping of a cur-dog when in hot pursuit of a rabbit, that an Indian sends forth when closing rapidly upon a fleeing foe.