Beadle's Dime Novels No. 123: The Missing Bride

The Missing Bride *Beadle's Dime Novels, No. 128* — "The Missing Bride: A Story of Life in the West" by James L. Bowen (author of "The Doomed Hunter"). Set in the early western frontier, the story opens in a developing village founded by Maurice Jonson near the Rocky Mountain foothills. Lawrence Estey, a skilled young mechanic, arrives as Jonson's employee. He immediately encounters Jerry Buffinton, a rough local suitor infatuated with Rose Jonson, Maurice's eighteen-year-old orphaned niece. During a social nutting excursion on the mountains, Rose and her aunt fall into a deep, swift stream while crossing a primitive log bridge. After bystanders hesitate, Estey plunges into the cold flood and successfully rescues both women from the rushing current. His heroism transforms him into the village's most celebrated figure. That evening, when Rose embraces him gratefully, Estey experiences sudden romantic awakening—"a bright little" emotion previously unknown to him.