The Woodwose of Cannock Chase

1867 · 24 pages

This penny dreadful issue contains two serials. "The Boy Sailor; or, Life on Board a Man-of-War" is advertised as a thirty-part tale of naval adventure promised as a gratis engraving with the issue. The main featured story is "The Woodwose of Cannock Chase," set over a century prior near Shugborough Hall. Sir Richard Dalton, recently returned from London having lost both a business venture and his beloved to an Italian count, rides out to clear his mind. His horse startles at a large, hairy creature—a Woodwose or wildman—that attacks them with a branch. The beast flees when Lord Hunstone's party approaches. Lord Hunstone reveals his two daughters, Lady Hannah and Lady Martha, have gone missing during their morning ride; their horses were found wandering. Dalton and young stable boy Dick pursue them toward Tixall while Hunstone searches toward Milford Hall. The narrative reveals the sisters had been riding contemplatively, both harboring romantic feelings for the same man, John Deane, when they spotted the mysterious figure. Their frightened horses bolt, leaving them alone and vulnerable when the Woodwose attacks. The story breaks off as Lady Hannah awakens in darkness, apparently captured.

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