| CHAPTER | PAGE | |
| I. | —WHO OUR FELLOWS ARE, | [9] |
| II. | —AN UNINVITED GUEST, | [17] |
| III. | —MARK’S ADVENTURE, | [29] |
| IV. | —A FRIEND IN NEED, | [44] |
| V. | —WE TALK THE MATTER OVER, | [54] |
| VI. | —MARK MAKES A DISCOVERY, | [74] |
| VII. | —OUR CHRISTMAS TURKEYS, | [81] |
| VIII. | —A RIDE AFTER THE INDIANS, | [106] |
| IX. | —CAUGHT AT LAST, | [123] |
| X. | —I STAND PICKET, | [146] |
| XI. | —THE TABLES TURNED, | [168] |
| XII. | —TOM IS ASTONISHED, | [180] |
| XIII. | —TOM TELLS HIS STORY, | [204] |
| XIV. | —TOM’S PLAN, | [217] |
| XV. | —DANGEROUS WORK, | [231] |
| XVI. | —OUR STRATAGEM, | [241] |
| XVII. | —TAKING THE BACK TRACK, | [249] |
| XVIII. | —AN UNEXPECTED DELIVERANCE, | [265] |
| XIX. | —“MARK TWO TIMES,” | [278] |
| XX. | —CONCLUSION, | [293] |
OUR FELLOWS
OR,
Skirmishes with, the Swamp Dragoons.
CHAPTER I.
WHO OUR FELLOWS ARE.
My name is Joseph Coleman, and at the time my story begins I was sixteen years of age. Mark was my twin brother; and he looked and acted so much like me, or else I looked and acted so much like him, that only our very intimate friends could tell us apart. We always dressed alike, and that, no doubt, had something to do with the remarkable resemblance we bore to each other.
Many were the mistakes that were made in regard to our identity—some of them laughable, others proving exactly the reverse, especially when I was called upon to stand punishment for his misdeeds. On one occasion Mark got into a difficulty with a half-breed. About a week afterward, while I was riding along the road, I met this same half-breed with a big switch in his hand, and all that saved me from a severe whipping was the speed of my horse.
Then there was our old enemy, Tom Mason, who had been badly worsted in an attempt to whip Mark, and ever since that time he had been robbing my traps, shooting at my dog and killing my doves, thinking all the while that he was revenging himself upon Mark, when he was in reality punishing me.