Beadle's Dime Novels No. 20: Florida; or, The Iron Will

This issue of Beadle's Dime Novels (No. 75) contains two serials. "The Hunter's Escape" by Edward S. Ellis, advertised for the next issue, is a forest romance depicting a missionary character forty years after his introduction in Ellis's earlier "Lost Trail," witnessing a Northwestern Indian uprising in 1891. The primary content is "Florida; or, The Iron Will" by Mrs. Mary A. Denison, a contemporary romance. In Connecticut, Virginia Owen, nearly sixteen, lives with her widowed mother and stepsister Florida. Virginia meets secretly with Parker, a young schoolteacher, in a pine grove. Parker struggles with the demands of teaching and harbors romantic feelings for Virginia, whose beauty he compares to golden light. Meanwhile, Madge Spicer, a spoiled student, shows jealous interest in Parker. Virginia suggests Madge's behavior stems from jealousy, noting her stepsister Florida is similarly temperamental and unhappy. Parker expresses dissatisfaction with teaching's monotony and wishes for wealth to escape drudgery. The narrative employs romantic, sentimental language typical of the period.