Beadle's Dime Novels No. 120: The Hunchback

No. 120 of Beadle's Dime Novels

This issue contains two serialized stories. "The Hunchback; or, The Cave Castle" by W. J. Hamilton, a romance set during the American Revolution, opens with a dramatic encounter at a northern New York lake between Caspar Decker, a deformed hunchback who has lived in isolation for five years; Chief Wando of the Oneidas; and Captain Samuel Stanton of the colonial forces. Decker, bitter toward Stanton's entire family, warns of impending bloodshed while displaying unexpected refinement in his hidden cabin, furnished with books and religious texts. Wando brings intelligence of British movements—St. Leger and Brandt marching toward Fort Schuyler—before departing by canoe. The story develops Decker's cryptic past and his conflicted feelings toward his visitor. Also advertised is Scott R. Sherwood's "The Veiled Benefactress," featuring the mysterious experiences of Gerald Prevost and his romance with Jeannette L'Estrange.