Beadle's Pocket Library No. 402

Flatboat Fred on the Mississippi This 1891 serial by Edward Willett follows nineteen-year-old Fred Light, captain of a small store-boat called the *Experiment* on the Mississippi River. The narrative opens with a boxing match between Fred and Mat Marsh, an enigmatic pilot of mysterious education and knowledge. Marsh reveals he knows Fred has been commissioned by St. Louis businessman Charles Searcy—the displaced owner of the Searcy plantation—to conduct unspecified business. After landing at a clearing near the old plantation, Fred, his German crewmate Herman Schweitopfel, and Marsh begin operating the store-boat's inventory of dry goods and hardware. Their first visitors are the dangerous Bingley gang, whose arrival frightens the local informant. The exact nature of Fred's mission and the gathering conflict remain unrevealed.