The Mad Hussars; or, The O's and the Macs

This issue of Beadle and Adams' weekly (Vol. XVIII, No. 296, February 21, 1883) features "The Mad Hussars; or, The O's and the Macs," a serial by Captain Fred. Whittaker, author of multiple adventure tales. The story opens at the Loost en Roost, a Dutch inn on the canal near Boomfelt, where the placid innkeeper Mynheer Block sits smoking his pipe while listening to frogs singing in "B flat." A handsome young soldier in green velvet coat arrives on foot, introduces himself as Mynheer Moritz, and immediately befriends the innkeeper's niece Karin, sketching portraits and requesting dinner. Shortly after, a red-haired cavalry officer on horseback arrives equally boisterously, also demanding food and service. The narrative establishes these soldiers of fortune as the story's central characters, initiating what appears to be a tale of military adventure and romantic entanglement set in historical Europe.