THE HEIRESS OF THE GOLDEN HORN.
CHAPTER I.
ROLLO, THE RANGER.
Over the great plain at a breakneck speed, and down toward the little settlement of Clontarf’s Post, rode a youthful horseman whose fair young face was aglow with health, and whose dark, bright eyes roamed restlessly over the green expanse before him.
From beneath a small plumed cap of scarlet velvet, masses of dark-brown hair floated on the wind. He was a mere youth in appearance—of seventeen perhaps, and though he was light of form and lithe of limb, his physical and muscular development was that of perfect manhood.
He wore a tunic of dark-blue cloth, ornamented with bright yellow trimmings, and confined at the slender waist with a handsome belt with silver fastenings. Buckskin leggings and buckskin moccasins were upon his tapering limbs and shapely feet.
The boyish face wore a lovely, yet fearless expression. His hands were as small, smooth and shapely as a maiden’s, yet, like his face, they had become colored to a dusky brown by exposure to the hot sun and wind of the prairie.
In addition to the handsome rifle which he carried slung over his shoulder by means of a strap, and the handsome silver-mounted revolvers he wore in his belt, he carried a light saber in a polished scabbard at his side.
He was mounted upon a dark, mettlesome pony—a cross of the Mexican and mustang breed. A fine Mexican saddle and a bridle made of braided horse-hair, caparisoned the animal. On one side of the pommel of the saddle hung a coiled silver horn; on the other side a double-lensed spy-glass. With the latter, the young ranger ever and anon swept the great plain before him as though he were not satisfied with the sight of his own bright, flashing eyes.
Rollo, the Boy Ranger, for as such he was known, pushed rapidly on, and soon he had gained a bold eminence upon the plain. Here, amid the tall, luxurious grass that crowned its crest, he drew rein and gazed away toward the west, where a grand sight was spread out before him.
The Little Sioux river divided the landscape, and with its almost illimitable forest upon the west, and its undulating ocean verdure upon the east, it seemed but a silver thread winding through a field of green cloth. And down in the valley, upon the east side of the river, nestled a dozen or more log cabins, a block-house, all surrounded by a strong stockade that had withstood more than one siege of the savage denizens of the forest and plain.