Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 308

Hemlock Hank, Tough and True; or, The Shadow of Mount Katahdin This serial adventure story by Edward Willett follows Hemlock Hank Ward, a weathered, experienced wilderness guide, and Charley Creed, an energetic young sportsman, as they canoe up Maine's Penobscot River in early autumn. Their journey tests Charley's outdoor competence: he mistakes a large owl for a panther and shoots it in the night, earning ridicule from fellow loggers Zeb Carter, Luke Schooley, and Solomon Barnes. After camping together, the loggers mention a Boston detective named Dick Risden searching upriver for Solon Marley, a fugitive bookkeeper who allegedly embezzled from the firm Creed & Ralston years ago. Hank warns against helping the detective. The narrative follows both parties attempting to ascend formidable rapids using setting-poles, with a mysterious rifle shot interrupting the canoeists mid-ascent.