CONTENTS.

CHAPTERPAGE
I.[The Young Miller]7
II.[At the Bank]16
III.[Bad News]26
IV.[Mr. Enos Norton]33
V.[Hot Words]42
VI.[At Rock Island]51
VII.[A Pitched Battle]62
VIII.[A Blow from Behind]69
IX.[The Two Strangers]77
X.[A Surprise]85
XI.[Mr. Norton’s Move]93
XII.[A Midnight Crime]100
XIII.[At Squire Slocum’s House]108
XIV.[Mr. Norton’s Statement]116
XV.[Some Facts in the Case]124
XVI.[A Friend in Need]133
XVII.[Back to the Mill]140
XVIII.[A Moment of Excitement]149
XIX.[Lively Work]157
XX.[We make a Prisoner]165
XXI.[A Storm on the Lake]173
XXII.[An Interesting Conversation]182
XXIII.[Captured]190
XXIV.[In the Woods]198
XXV.[A Miraculous Escape]204
XXVI.[The Chase]212
XXVII.[At the Depot]218
XXVIII.[The Pursuit becomes Perilous]224
XXIX.[Mr. Norton’s Accusation]230
XXX.[Norton Bixby]237
XXXI.[A Lucky Find]243
XXXII.[A Welcome Arrival]249
XXXIII.[A Happy Ending]254

REUBEN STONE’S DISCOVERY.

CHAPTER I.
THE YOUNG MILLER.

“It ain’t no use to talk, Rube, that bill has got to be paid.” Mr. James Jackson brought his fist down on the little desk in one corner of the mill with such force that everything jumped. “I’ve waited for it till I’m all out of patience, and now I want my money.”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Jackson,” I replied, “very sorry indeed to keep you waiting; but it cannot be helped. Business has been backward this summer, as you know, and money is tight.”

“It never was tight when your father was here,” growled the principal storekeeper of Torrent Bend, as he strode up and down the whitened floor. “Every bill was paid on the spot.”

“That is true, sir; but father knew the business was getting poorer every day, and that is the reason he left to see if he couldn’t locate in some place in the West.”

“Might better have stayed here and tended to this place, and not let his son run it into the ground.”