Chip, the Cave-Child

This 1880 dime novel by Mary A. Denison follows "Chip," a pale, sickly girl raised in a cave by the mysterious Mother Karstegan, a gaunt woman of apparent Native American descent. The narrative opens with Karstegan forcing the malnourished, white-skinned child to believe she is dead, placing a mock tombstone over a grave filled with bones. The story then shifts to a Pennsylvania tavern kitchen where rough farmers and travelers warm themselves by a roaring fire. Among them are a young man named Park Dinsmore and a plain-dressed Quaker preacher. Mastina, the tavern barmaid, jokes boldly with the coarse men. When sweet singing is heard outside, the patrons learn it is the "cave-child"—a mysterious figure whose origins remain unclear. Nick, a neglected parish boy at the inn, shows peculiar recognition of references to the cave and its inhabitants.