by Zane Grey
Table of Contents
COPYRIGHT INFO
A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER
The MEGAPACK™ Ebook Series
A DAUGHTER OF THE DONS, by William Macleod Raine
THE DUKE OF CHIMNEY BUTTE, by G. W. Ogden
RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE, by Zane Grey
THE RAINBOW TRAIL, by Zane Grey
DESERT GOLD, by Zane Grey
THE BORDER LEGION, by Zane Grey
WILDFIRE, by Zane Grey
THE HEART OF THE DESERT, by Honoré Willsie Morrow
A TEXAS RANGER, by William MacLeod Raine
A VOICE IN THE WILDERNESS, by Grace Livingston Hill
GOD’S COUNTRY—AND THE WOMAN, by James Oliver Curwood
THE EMIGRANT TRAIL, by Geraldine Bonner
HER PRAIRIE KNIGHT, by B.M. Bower
SKYRIDER, by B.M. Bower
THE GIRL FROM MONTANA, by Grace Livingston Hill
HEART OF THE SUNSET, by Rex Beach
LETTERS OF A WOMAN HOMESTEADER, by Elinore Pruitt Stewart
THE DAUGHTER OF A MAGNATE, by Frank H. Spearman
THE DESERT VALLEY, by Jackson Gregory
THE BEAUTIFUL EYES OF YSIDRIA, by Charles A. Gunnison
COPYRIGHT INFO
The Western Romance MEGAPACK™ is copyright © 2014 by Wildside Press, LLC. Cover art copyright © Igor Norman / Fotolia. All rights reserved.
* * * *
The MEGAPACK™ ebook series name is a trademark of Wildside Press, LLC. All rights reserved.
A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER
Romance and Westerns have always seemed to go together. In the 1940s and 1950s, there were even specialty magazines devoted to western romances...in which the romantic element most often took center stage.
The 20 novels collected in The Western Romance MEGAPACK™ all have strong romantic plots, but they are first and foremost western historical fiction, by some of the top writers of western liternature. B.M. Bower, Zane Grey, James Oliver Curwood, and many others here are known primarily for there westerns. (Zane Grey is one of those authors, in fact, whose name is almost synonymous with the genre.)
Enjoy!
—John Betancourt
Publisher, Wildside Press LLC
www.wildsidepress.com
ABOUT THE SERIES
Over the last few years, our MEGAPACK™ ebook series has grown to be our most popular endeavor. (Maybe it helps that we sometimes offer them as premiums to our mailing list!) One question we keep getting asked is, “Who’s the editor?”
The MEGAPACK™ ebook series (except where specifically credited) are a group effort. Everyone at Wildside works on them. This includes John Betancourt (me), Carla Coupe, Steve Coupe, Shawn Garrett, Helen McGee, Bonner Menking, Colin Azariah-Kribbs, A.E. Warren, and many of Wildside’s authors…who often suggest stories to include (and not just their own!)
RECOMMEND A FAVORITE STORY?
Do you know a great classic science fiction story, or have a favorite author whom you believe is perfect for the MEGAPACK™ ebook series? We’d love your suggestions! You can post them on our message board at http://movies.ning.com/forum (there is an area for Wildside Press comments).
Note: we only consider stories that have already been professionally published. This is not a market for new works.
TYPOS
Unfortunately, as hard as we try, a few typos do slip through. We update our ebooks periodically, so make sure you have the current version (or download a fresh copy if it’s been sitting in your ebook reader for months.) It may have already been updated.
If you spot a new typo, please let us know. We’ll fix it for everyone. You can email the publisher at [email protected] or use the message boards above.
The MEGAPACK™ Ebook Series
MYSTERY
The First Mystery MEGAPACK™
The Second Mystery MEGAPACK™
The Achmed Abdullah MEGAPACK™
The Bulldog Drummond MEGAPACK™*
The Carolyn Wells Mystery MEGAPACK™
The Charlie Chan MEGAPACK™*
The Craig Kennedy Scientific Detective MEGAPACK™
The Detective MEGAPACK™
The Father Brown MEGAPACK™
The Girl Detective MEGAPACK™
The Second Girl Detective MEGAPACK™
The First R. Austin Freeman MEGAPACK™
The Second R. Austin Freeman MEGAPACK™*
The Third R. Austin Freeman MEGAPACK™*
The Jacques Futrelle MEGAPACK™
The Anna Katharine Green Mystery MEGAPACK™
The Penny Parker MEGAPACK™
The Philo Vance MEGAPACK™*
The Pulp Fiction MEGAPACK™
The Raffles MEGAPACK™
The Red Finger Pulp Mystery MEGAPACK™, by Arthur Leo Zagat*
The Sherlock Holmes MEGAPACK™
The Victorian Mystery MEGAPACK™
The Wilkie Collins MEGAPACK™
GENERAL INTEREST
The Adventure MEGAPACK™
The Baseball MEGAPACK™
The Cat Story MEGAPACK™
The Second Cat Story MEGAPACK™
The Third Cat Story MEGAPACK™
The Christmas MEGAPACK™
The Second Christmas MEGAPACK™
The Classic American Short Stories MEGAPACK™, Vol. 1.
The Classic Humor MEGAPACK™
The Dog Story MEGAPACK™
The Doll Story MEGAPACK™
The Horse Story MEGAPACK™
The Military MEGAPACK™
The Pirate Story MEGAPACK™
The Sea-Story MEGAPACK™
The Utopia MEGAPACK™
THE GOLDEN AGE OF SCIENCE FICTION
1. Winston K. Marks
2. Mark Clifton
3. Poul Anderson
4. Clifford D. Simak
5. Lester del Rey
6. Charles L. Fontenay
7. H.B. Fyfe
8. Milton Lesser (Stephen Marlowe)
SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY
The First Science Fiction MEGAPACK™
The Second Science Fiction MEGAPACK™
The Third Science Fiction MEGAPACK™
The Fourth Science Fiction MEGAPACK™
The Fifth Science Fiction MEGAPACK™
The Sixth Science Fiction MEGAPACK™
The Seventh Science Fiction MEGAPACK™
The Eighth Science Fiction MEGAPACK™
The Ninth Science Fiction MEGAPACK™
The Edward Bellamy MEGAPACK™
The First Reginald Bretnor MEGAPACK™
The Fredric Brown MEGAPACK™
The Fred M. White Disaster MEGAPACK™
The First Theodore Cogswell MEGAPACK™
The Ray Cummings MEGAPACK™
The Philip K. Dick MEGAPACK™
The Dragon MEGAPACK™
The Randall Garrett MEGAPACK™
The Second Randall Garrett MEGAPACK™
The Edmond Hamilton MEGAPACK™
The C.J. Henderson MEGAPACK™
The Murray Leinster MEGAPACK™**
*
The Second Murray Leinster MEGAPACK™***
The Jack London Science Fiction MEGAPACK™
The Lost Worlds MEGAPACK™
The Mad Scientist MEGAPACK™
The Martian MEGAPACK™
The A. Merritt MEGAPACK™*
The E. Nesbit MEGAPACK™
The Andre Norton MEGAPACK™
The H. Beam Piper MEGAPACK™
The Pulp Fiction MEGAPACK™
The Mack Reynolds MEGAPACK™
The Milton A. Rothman Science Fiction MEGAPACK™
The Darrell Schweitzer MEGAPACK™
The Science-Fantasy MEGAPACK™
The Robert Sheckley MEGAPACK™
The Space Opera MEGAPACK™
The Space Patrol MEGAPACK™
The Steampunk MEGAPACK™
The Time Travel MEGAPACK™
The Second Time Travel MEGAPACK™
The Utopia MEGAPACK™
The William Hope Hodgson MEGAPACK™
The First Willam P. McGivern Science Fiction MEGAPACK™
The Second Willam P. McGivern Science Fiction MEGAPACK™
The Willam P. McGivern Fantasy MEGAPACK™
The Wizard of Oz MEGAPACK™
HORROR
The 2014 Halloween Horrors MEGAPACK™
The Horror MEGAPACK™
The Second Horror MEGAPACK™
The Achmed Abdullah MEGAPACK™
The Second Achmed Abdullah MEGAPACK™
The E.F. Benson MEGAPACK™
The Second E.F. Benson MEGAPACK™
The Algernon Blackwood MEGAPACK™
The Second Algernon Blackwood MEGAPACK™
The Cthulhu Mythos MEGAPACK™
The Erckmann-Chatrian MEGAPACK™
The Ghost Story MEGAPACK™
The Second Ghost Story MEGAPACK™
The Third Ghost Story MEGAPACK™
The Haunts & Horrors MEGAPACK™
The Lon Williams Weird Western MEGAPACK™
The M.R. James MEGAPACK™
The Macabre MEGAPACK™
The Second Macabre MEGAPACK™
The Third Macabre MEGAPACK™
The Arthur Machen MEGAPACK™**
The Mummy MEGAPACK™
The Occult Detective MEGAPACK™
The Darrell Schweitzer MEGAPACK™
The Vampire MEGAPACK™
The Weird Fiction MEGAPACK™
The Werewolf MEGAPACK™
The William Hope Hodgson MEGAPACK™
WESTERN
The Andy Adams Western MEGAPACK™
The B.M. Bower MEGAPACK™
The Max Brand MEGAPACK™
The Buffalo Bill MEGAPACK™
The Cowboy MEGAPACK™
The Zane Grey MEGAPACK™
The Charles Alden Seltzer MEGAPACK™
The Western MEGAPACK™
The Second Western MEGAPACK™
The Third Western MEGAPACK™
The Western Romance MEGAPACK™
The Lon Williams Weird Western MEGAPACK™
YOUNG ADULT
The Bobbsey Twins MEGAPACK™
The Boys’ Adventure MEGAPACK™
The Dan Carter, Cub Scout MEGAPACK™
The Dare Boys MEGAPACK™
The Doll Story MEGAPACK™
The G.A. Henty MEGAPACK™
The Girl Detectives MEGAPACK™
The E. Nesbit MEGAPACK™
The Penny Parker MEGAPACK™
The Pinocchio MEGAPACK™
The Rover Boys MEGAPACK™
The Second Carolyn Wells MEGAPACK™
The Space Patrol MEGAPACK™
The Tom Corbett, Space Cadet MEGAPACK™
The Tom Swift MEGAPACK™
The Wizard of Oz MEGAPACK™
SINGLE-AUTHOR
The Achmed Abdullah MEGAPACK™
The H. Bedford-Jones Pulp Fiction MEGAPACK™
The Edward Bellamy MEGAPACK™
The E.F. Benson MEGAPACK™
The Second E.F. Benson MEGAPACK™
The Henri Bergson MEGAPACK™
The Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson MEGAPACK™
The Algernon Blackwood MEGAPACK™
The Second Algernon Blackwood MEGAPACK™
The B.M. Bower MEGAPACK™
The Max Brand MEGAPACK™
The First Reginald Bretnor MEGAPACK™
The Fredric Brown MEGAPACK™
The Second Fredric Brown MEGAPACK™
The Wilkie Collins MEGAPACK™
The Stephen Crane MEGAPACK™
The Ray Cummings MEGAPACK™
The Guy de Maupassant MEGAPACK™
The Philip K. Dick MEGAPACK™
The Frederick Douglass MEGAPACK™
The Erckmann-Chatrian MEGAPACK™
The F. Scott Fitzgerald MEGAPACK™
The First R. Austin Freeman MEGAPACK™
The Second R. Austin Freeman MEGAPACK™*
The Third R. Austin Freeman MEGAPACK™*
The Jacques Futrelle MEGAPACK™
The Randall Garrett MEGAPACK™
The Second Randall Garrett MEGAPACK™
The Anna Katharine Green MEGAPACK™
The Zane Grey MEGAPACK™
The Edmond Hamilton MEGAPACK™
The Dashiell Hammett MEGAPACK™
The C.J. Henderson MEGAPACK™
The William Hope Hodgson MEGAPACK™
The M.R. James MEGAPACK™
The Selma Lagerlof MEGAPACK™
The Harold Lamb MEGAPACK™
The Murray Leinster MEGAPACK™***
The Second Murray Leinster MEGAPACK™***
The Jonas Lie MEGAPACK™
The Arthur Machen MEGAPACK™**
The Katherine Mansfield MEGAPACK™
The George Barr McCutcheon MEGAPACK™
The William P. McGivern Fantasy MEGAPACK™
The First William P. McGivern Science Fiction MEGAPACK™
The Second William P. McGivern Science Fiction MEGAPACK™
The A. Merritt MEGAPACK™*
The Talbot Mundy MEGAPACK™
The E. Nesbit MEGAPACK™
The Andre Norton MEGAPACK™
The H. Beam Piper MEGAPACK™
The Mack Reynolds MEGAPACK™
The Rafael Sabatini MEGAPACK™
The Saki MEGAPACK™
The Darrell Schweitzer MEGAPACK™
The Charles Alden Seltzer MEGAPACK™
The Robert Sheckley MEGAPACK™
The Bram Stoker MEGAPACK™
The Fred M. White Disaster MEGAPACK™
The Lon Williams Weird Western MEGAPACK™
The Virginia Woolf MEGAPACK™
The Arthur Leo Zagat Science Fiction MEGAPACK™
* Not available in the United States
** Not available in the European Union
***Out of print.
OTHER COLLECTIONS YOU MAY ENJOY
The Great Book of Wonder, by Lord Dunsany (it should have been called “The Lord Dunsany MEGAPACK™”)
The Wildside Book of Fantasy
The Wildside Book of Science Fiction
Yondering: The First Borgo Press Book of Science Fiction Stories
To the Stars—And Beyond! The Second Borgo Press Book of Science Fiction Stories
Once Upon a Future: The Third Borgo Press Book of Science Fiction Stories
Who
dunit?—The First Borgo Press Book of Crime and Mystery Stories
More Whodunits—The Second Borgo Press Book of Crime and Mystery StorieyX is for Xmas: Christmas Mysteries
A DAUGHTER OF THE DONS, by William Macleod Raine
A Story of New Mexico Today
Originally published in 1914.
CHAPTER I
DON MANUEL INTRODUCES HIMSELF
For hours Manuel Pesquiera had been rolling up the roof of the continent in an observation-car of the “Short Line.”
His train had wound in and out through a maze of bewildering scenery, and was at last dipping down into the basin of the famous gold camp.
The alert black eyes of the young New Mexican wandered discontentedly over the raw ugliness of the camp. Towns straggled here and there untidily at haphazard, mushroom growths of a day born of a lucky “strike.” Into the valleys and up and down the hillsides ran a network of rails for trolley and steam cars. Everywhere were the open tunnel mouths or the frame shaft-houses perched above the gray Titan dump beards.
The magic that had wonderfully brought all these manifold activities into being had its talisman in the word “Gold”; but, since Pesquiera had come neither as a prospector nor investor, he heard with only half-concealed impatience the easy gossip of his fellow travelers about the famous ore producers of the district.
It was not until his inattentive ears caught the name of Dick Gordon that he found interest in the conversation.
“Pardon, sir! Are you acquaint’ with Mr. Richard Gordon?” he asked, a touch of the gentle Spanish accent in his voice.
The man to whom he had spoken, a grizzled, weather-beaten little fellow in a corduroy suit and white, broad-brimmed felt hat, turned his steady blue eyes on his questioner a moment before he answered:
“I ought to know him, seeing as I’m his partner.”
“Then you can tell me where I may find him?”
“Yes, sir, I can do that. See that streak of red there on the hill—the one above the big dump. That’s the shafthouse of the Last Dollar. Drop down it about nine hundred feet and strike an airline west by north for about a quarter of a mile, and you’d be right close to him. He’s down there, tackling a mighty uncertain proposition. The shaft and the workings of the Last Dollar are full of water. He’s running a crosscut from an upraise in the Radley drift, so as to tap the west tunnel of the Last Dollar.”
“It is dangerous, you inform me?”
