Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 44

1878 · 16 pages

The Night Hawks of Kentucky, by Harry St. George This tale features Rattling Rube, a seasoned wolf-scalper operating in Kentucky forests who, with his younger companion, rescues a man buried alive who falls victim to a gray wolf. Rube kills the wolf with his rifle and marks his stock with a notch in a ritualistic fashion. The rescued man, Tom Crawley, reveals he was buried by Dare-Devil Dick's horse-thief gang. Questioning Crawley's trustworthiness, Rube recounts why he hunts wolves relentlessly: five years prior, his beloved companion Joe Burns was devoured by a massive wolf pack while they were hunting. As Rube finishes his story, a rifle shot narrowly misses him—suggesting the gang's pursuit has caught up. The narrative combines frontier adventure with gothic horror elements, depicting attacks by animals and the perils of wilderness survival.

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