The Highgrader

The Highgrader, by William MacLeod Raine

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Title: The Highgrader
Author: William MacLeod Raine
Illustrator: D. C. Hutchinson
Release Date: September 12, 2007 [EBook #22583]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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[Illustration: KILMENY'S ALERT EYES SWEPT AGAIN AND AGAIN THE TRAIL LEADING UP THE GULCH. HE DID NOT INTEND TO BE CAUGHT NAPPING BY THE OFFICERS. Frontispiece (p. 67)]
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THE HIGHGRADER
BY
WILLIAM MacLEOD RAINE
Author of "Wyoming," "Ridgway of Montana," "Bucky O'Connor," "A Texas Ranger," "Mavericks," "Brand Blotters," "Crooked Trails and Straight," "The Vision Splendid," "The Pirate of Panama," "A Daughter of the Dons," Etc.
Illustrations By D. C. HUTCHISON
G. W. DILLINGHAM COMPANY Publishers New York
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Copyright, 1915, by G. W. DILLINGHAM COMPANY
The Highgrader
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CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. The Campers 11 II. Mr. Verinder Complains 18 III. Night Fishing 28 IV. Fugitives From Justice 44 V. "I'm Here, Neighbor" 56 VI. Lord Farquhar Gives Moya A Hint 71 VII. Moya's Highwayman 84 VIII. The Bad Penny Again 102 IX. "An Out and Out Rotter" 113 X. Old Friends 123 XI. A Blizzard 141 XII. Out of the Storm a Man 157 XIII. Shot To the Core With Sunlight 170 XIV. "Prove It!... Prove It!" 180 XV. A Highgrader--In Principle 189 XVI. One Maid--Two Men 201 XVII. A Warning 218 XVIII. Two Ambushes 237 XIX. Mr. Verinder Is Treated To A Surprise 243 XX. Colter Takes A Hand 250 XXI. Spirit Rapping? 264 XXII. The Acid Test 274 XXIII. Captain Kilmeny Retires 284 XXIV. Two In A Bucket 291 XXV. Homing Hearts 309
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ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE
Kilmeny's alert eyes swept again and again the trail leading up the gulch. He did not intend to be caught napping by the officers Frontispiece 67
"He's hooked pretty fast. Take your time about getting him into your net. These big fellows are likely to squirm away" 33
They rode through a world shot to the core with sunlight. The snow sparkled and gleamed with it 177
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THE HIGHGRADER
PRELUDE
A young idealist, ?tat four, was selling stars to put in the sky. She had cut them with her own scissors out of red tissue paper, so that she was able to give a guarantee.
"But you'll have to get the ladder out of our bedroom to put 'em up wiv," she told purchasers honestly.
The child was a wild dark creature, slim and elfish, with a queer little smile that flashed sudden as an April sun.
It was evening, on the promenade deck of an ocean liner. The sea was like glass and the swell hardly perceptible. Land was in sight, a vague uneven line rising mist-like on the horizon. Before morning the Victorian would be running up the St. Lawrence. Even for the most squeamish the discomforts of the voyage lay behind. A pleasant good fellowship was in the air. In some it took the form of an idle contentment, a vague regret that ties newly formed must so soon be broken. In others it found an expression more buoyant. Merry voices of shuffleboard players drifted forward. Young couples paced the deck and leaned over the rail to watch the phosphorescent glow. The open windows of the smoking-room gave forth the tinkle of glasses and the low rattle of chips. All sounds blended into a mellow harmony.
"What's your price on a whole constellation with a lovers' moon thrown in?" inquired a young man lounging in a deck chair.
The vendor of stars looked at him in her direct serious fashion. "I fink I tan't sell you all 'at, but I'll make you a moon to go wiv the stars--not a weally twuly one, jus' a make-believe moon," she added in a whisper.
An irritated voice made itself heard. "Steward, have you seen that child anywhere? The naughty little brat has run away again--and I left her only a minute."
The dealer in celestial supplies came to earth.
"I'm goin' to be smacked," she announced with grave conviction.
An unvoiced conspiracy formed itself instantly in her behalf. A lady in a steamer chair gathered the child under the shelter of her rug. An eight-year-old youngster knotted his fists valiantly. The young man who had priced a constellation considered the chances of a cutting-out expedition.
"She should have been in bed long ago. I just stepped out to speak to our room steward and when I came back she was gone," the annoyed governess was explaining.
Discovery was imminent. The victim prepared herself for the worst.
"I don't care," she protested to her protector. "It's ever so nicer to stay up, an' if it wasn't runnin'