Beadle's Dime Novels No. 54: Myrtle, the Child of the Prairie

The Child of the Prairie This issue contains two complete serials. "A Romance of the Noble Natchez" (No. 61) by Henry J. Thomas features "Laughing Eyes," described as a French girl whose beauty captivates both Indians and French courtiers at the Natchez Fort during the French colonial period. The story emphasizes the "noble" customs of the Natchez tribe. The primary serial, "The Child of the Prairie" by Mrs. M. V. Victor, opens as traveler Hugh Fielding discovers an abandoned one-year-old girl alone on the western prairie, eighteen miles from civilization. Finding only a lost shoe and blue ribbon nearby, he adopts her, naming her Myrtle. They journey to the newly established frontier town of Wakwaka (five months old, fifty structures including canvas tents and brick buildings). Upon arrival, the townspeople are moved by the infant's beauty and offer financial support. Fielding, previously a confirmed bachelor, declares his intention to raise the child himself. The narrative emphasizes Myrtle's mysterious origins, suggesting possible Indian attack on her family.