Black Nick, the Demon Rider; or, The Mountain Queen's Warning

Black Nick, the Demon Rider; or, The Mountain Queen's Warning This 1888 Beadle and Adams dime novel by Captain Frederick Whittaker opens with a supernatural frontier adventure set during the American Revolutionary War. The narrative alternates between two plotlines. In Chapter I, a spy called the "Night Hawk" meets with Mohawk warriors led by Chief Black Fox in a forest clearing to relay intelligence about rebel movements: General Herkimer will march with a thousand men to relieve besieged Fort Oriskany within two days. The encounter is interrupted by the sudden appearance of "Black Nick," a demonic figure in skeletal form with upright horns who emerges from a hollow tree amid flames and smoke, wielding javelins. Black Nick kills or captures the Indians and sends the terrified spy fleeing. Chapter II shifts to a young Prussian hussar officer serving as aide-de-camp to General Schuyler. Riding through Vermont mountains, he spots smoke rising from "Haunted Hill," a mountain feared by Indians due to reported demonic haunting. His investigation draws the attention of pursuing Mohawk warriors shadowing him through the forest.