The Frontier Angel: A Romance of Kentucky Rangers' Life

This issue of *Beadle's Half-Dime Library* (No. 98) presents the opening chapters of "The Frontier Angel: A Romance of Kentucky Rangers' Life" by Edward S. Ellis. The narrative begins in western Pennsylvania near the Ohio River in the late 18th century. The Abbot family—farmer parents and their daughter Marian—plan to relocate westward to Kentucky via flat-boat, with Marian departing ahead while her parents settle affairs. Her betrothed, Russel Mansfield, must remain behind with his parents. The evening before departure, the family discusses a serious threat: Tom McGable, a man Marian rejected, has become a renegade working with British forces and Indians along the Ohio River. He lures passing flat-boats to shore using deceptive schemes, capturing and killing travelers, and has sworn vengeance against both Marian and Mansfield. After family prayers, Marian and Russel express mutual apprehension despite their faith. The next morning, the flat-boat departs with Marian, ten armed men, and seven other settlers—eighteen people total embarking on their perilous western journey.