The Border Robin Hood; or, The Prairie Rover

The Border Robin Hood; or, The Prairie Rover This serialized western adventure by Buffalo Bill (author of "The Phantom Spy" and "Deadly Eye") opens with Ernest Maltravers returning home to Mississippi after his mother's death. A young man marked by scandal—he killed his cousin Howard in a duel at college and was acquitted but shunned—Ernest rescues a beautiful young woman, Miss Ruth Reginald, from wolves along the river road. She is moved by his gallantry despite his dark reputation. The narrative reveals Ernest's backstory: his indulged youth, rivalry with his adopted cousin Howard over a woman, their fatal confrontation, and his mother's heartbreak and death caused by Howard's damaging letters about Ernest's dissipation. A family overseer reveals Howard had secretly plotted against Ernest. The tale combines romantic melodrama with frontier action, establishing Ernest as a guilt-ridden but fundamentally noble protagonist seeking redemption.