The Corsair Queen; or, The Gypsies of the Sea

This November 1902 issue of the Street & Smith publication features "The Corsair Queen; or, The Gipsies of the Sea," a serialized romance by Colonel Prentiss Ingraham, author of numerous adventure tales including "Merle, the Mutineer" and "The Pirate Prince." The narrative opens with Vincent Vance proposing marriage to Queena Gray, a wealthy American heiress traveling in Madrid. Gray reveals she has deliberately cultivated his affection to exact revenge: Vance seduced her friend Lou Wallace years prior, leading to Wallace's suicide. Vance, enraged, hires Chandos, a Gipsy King encamped near an allegedly haunted Spanish ruin, to murder Gray for one hundred doubloons. Chandos agrees, learning she will visit his encampment within three days with a party of American friends. The serial concludes with Gray's cavalcade arriving at the ruin's entrance, where she encounters Chandos himself standing at the castle's archway, their eyes meeting as the chapter closes.