The Popular Magazine, April 20, 1924

The Crusader's Casket (Roy Norton, complete novel) presents a maritime adventure set in Venice featuring Captain James "Happy Jim" Ware, master of the steam schooner *Adventure*. Ware is a mysterious operator with an ambiguous cargo-running reputation—he travels the globe on seemingly purposeless missions, maintains disciplined crew security, and outfits his tramp freighter with unexpected luxuries including a quality motorboat and unusually fine cabins. The novel opens with Ware anchored near Venice in moonlight; he rows ashore to explore the Grand Canal and Grand Hotel Regina, where he observes the cosmopolitan crowd and encounters an American woman at a terrace table. The narrative promises romance and adventure amid "an ancient curse, dating back to the days of the Venetian doges," which "turns at last to a benediction." Additional contributions include stories by Bertram Atkey (Dragour series), Howard R. Marsh, C.S. Montanye, and others on topics ranging from desert settlements to poker, Alaskan prospecting, and Mississippi River drama.