The Dog Crusoe and His Master

The Dog Crusoe and His Master

The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Dog Crusoe and His Master
by Robert Michael Ballantyne This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net
Title: The Dog Crusoe and His Master A Story of Adventure in the Western Prairies
Author: Robert Michael Ballantyne
Release Date: February 4, 2004 [EBook #10929]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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THE DOG CRUSOE
AND
HIS MASTER
A Story of Adventure in the Western Prairies
By
ROBERT MICHAEL BALLANTYNE
Author of "The Coral Island," "The Young Fur-Traders," "Ungava,"
"The Gorilla-Hunters," "The World of Ice,"
"Martin Rattler."
&c
1894
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
_The backwoods settlement--Crusoe's parentage and early history--The agonizing pains and sorrows of his puppyhood, and other interesting matters_.
CHAPTER II.
_A shooting-match and its consequences--New friends introduced to the reader--Crusoe and his mother change masters_.
CHAPTER III.
_Speculative remarks with which the reader may or may not agree--An old woman--Hopes and wishes commingled with hard facts--The dog Crusoe's education begun_.
CHAPTER IV.
_Our hero enlarged upon_--Grumps.
CHAPTER V.
_A mission of peace--Unexpected joys--Dick and Crusoe set off for the land of the Redskins, and meet with adventures by the way as a matter of course--in the wild woods_.
CHAPTER VI.
_The great prairies of the far west--A remarkable colony discovered, and a miserable night endured_.
CHAPTER VII.
_The "wallering" peculiarities of buffalo bulls--The first buffalo hunt and its consequences--Crusoe comes to the rescue--Pawnees discovered--A monster buffalo hunt--Joe acts the part of ambassador_.
CHAPTER VIII.
_Dick and his friends visit the Indians and see many wonders--Crusoe, too, experiences a few surprises, and teaches Indian dogs a lesson--An Indian dandy--A foot-race_.
CHAPTER IX.
_Crusoe acts a conspicuous and humane part--A friend gained--A great feast_.
CHAPTER X.
_Perplexities--Our hunters plan their escape--Unexpected interruption--The tables turned--Crusoe mounts guard--The escape_.
CHAPTER XI.
_Evening meditations and morning reflections--Buffaloes, badgers, antelopes, and accidents--An old bull and the wolves--"Mad tails"--Henri floored, etc_.
CHAPTER XII.
_Wanderings on the prairie--A war party--Chased by Indians--A bold leap for life_.
CHAPTER XIII.
_Escape from Indians--A discovery--Alone in the desert_.
CHAPTER XIV.
_Crusoe's return, and his private adventures among the Indians--Dick at a very low ebb--Crusoe saves him_.
CHAPTER XV.
_Health and happiness return--Incidents of the journey--A buffalo shot--A wild horse "creased"--Dick's battle with a mustang_.
CHAPTER XVI.
_Dick becomes a horse tamer--Resumes his journey--Charlie's doings--Misfortunes which lead to, but do not terminate in, the Rocky Mountains--A grizzly bear_.
CHAPTER XVII.
_Dick's first fight with a grizzly--Adventure with a deer--A surprise_.
CHAPTER XVIII.
_A surprise, and a piece of good news--The fur-traders--Crusoe proved, and the Peigans pursued_.
CHAPTER XIX.
_Adventures with the Peigans--Crusoe does good service as a discoverer--The savages outwitted--The rescue_.
CHAPTER XX.
_New plans--Our travellers join the fur-traders, and see many strange things--A curious fight--A narrow escape, and a prisoner taken_.
CHAPTER XXI.
_Wolves attack the horses, and Cameron circumvents the wolves--A bear-hunt, in which Henri shines conspicuous--Joe and the "Natter-list"--An alarm--A surprise and a capture_.
CHAPTER XXII.
_Charlie's adventures with savages and bears--Trapping life_.
CHAPTER XXIII.
_Savage sports--Living cataracts--An alarm--Indians and their doings--The stampede--Charlie again_.
CHAPTER XXIV.
_Plans and prospects--Dick becomes home-sick, and Henri metaphysical--The Indians attack the camp--A blow-up_.
CHAPTER XXV.
_Dangers of the prairie--Our travellers attacked by Indians, and delivered in a remarkable manner_.
CHAPTER XXVI.
_Anxious fears followed by a joyful surprise--Safe home at last, and happy hearts_.
CHAPTER XXVII.
_Rejoicings--The feast at the block-house--Grumps and Crusoe come out strong--The closing scene_.

THE DOG CRUSOE.
CHAPTER I.
_The backwoods settlement--Crusoe's parentage, and early history--The agonizing pains and sorrows of his puppyhood, and other interesting matters_.
The dog Crusoe was once a pup. Now do not, courteous reader, toss your head contemptuously, and exclaim, "Of course he was; I could have told you that." You know very well that you have often seen a man above six feet high, broad and powerful as a lion, with a bronzed shaggy visage and the stern glance of an eagle, of whom you have said, or thought, or heard others say, "It is scarcely possible to believe that such a man was once a squalling baby." If you had seen our hero in all the strength and majesty of full-grown doghood, you would have experienced a vague sort of surprise had we told you--as we now repeat--that the dog Crusoe was once a pup--a soft, round, sprawling, squeaking pup, as fat as a tallow candle, and as blind as a bat.
But we draw particular attention to the fact of Crusoe's having once been a pup, because in connection with the days of his puppyhood there hangs a tale.
This peculiar dog may thus be said to have had two tails--one in connection with his body, the other with his career. This tale, though short, is very harrowing, and as it is intimately connected with Crusoe's subsequent history we will relate it here. But before doing so we must beg our reader to accompany us beyond the civilized portions of the