The Indian Buccaneer; or, Red Rovers on Blue Waters

The Indian Buccaneer: Red Rovers on Blue Waters Col. Prentiss Ingraham contributes this maritime adventure serial to the November 26, 1884 issue of Beadle's dime novel series. The narrative opens as Doctor Rufus Rowland—a wealthy Portland resident—pilots a pleasure yacht carrying his daughter Ruth and her schoolmate Vivian Moreland through waters near Maine. A violent storm strikes, capsizing their vessel. A brave young oarsman in a white skiff rescues all three. He is Nick Burton, a lighthouse keeper's son whom Ruth recognizes from childhood. Nick pilots them safely to his mother's lighthouse on a rocky island. Though offered reward for the rescue, Nick and his mother refuse payment on principle, viewing aid to others as duty rather than transaction. The Rowlands accept the family's hospitality before returning by sloop to Portland as darkness falls. Mrs. Burton reflects on her son's unspoken attachment to Ruth, harboring premonitions of complications ahead.