Old Ruff's Protégé; or, Little Rifle's Secret

1891 · 32 pages

"Old Ruff's Protege; or, Little Rifle's Secret" This serial by Captain "Bruin" Adams follows a fifteen-year-old boy called Little Rifle in the Oregon wilderness near the Upper Columbia River. The protagonist—handsome, skilled in frontier survival, and orphaned under mysterious circumstances—encounters a Blackfoot Indian in a canoe while setting beaver traps. Observing unnatural movement in riverside grass, Little Rifle deduces pursuit and strategically positions himself behind a rock with his cocked rifle trained on the approaching paddler, described as physically repulsive and marked by small-pox scarring. Though aimed to shoot, Little Rifle hesitates, suggesting moral complexity beneath the adventure-story surface. Old Ruff, his guardian trapper, mentors the boy in vigilant outdoor survival. The narrative blends frontier adventure with suspense and questions of identity and belonging.

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