Red Hand

# Red Hand; or, The Channel Scourge

This serialized tale by A.G. Piper opens during Charles I's reign in England, providing historical context on the English Civil War, Cromwell's rise to power, and Charles I's execution. The narrative then shifts to the Restoration period, focusing on the Earl of Sussex, a Royalist peer who lost his right hand as punishment and now commands a warship called the "Red Hand," attacking Cromwell's vessels to restore Charles II to the throne. The story introduces a coastal fishing hamlet where the young loyalist Richard Graham resides, and introduces the Earl of Branden's family—his haughty son William, who serves Cromwell as a channel spy commanding a yacht, and his gentle daughter Lucy. The feud between the Earls of Sussex and Branden intensifies when the Thunderer, a Cromwellian warship, is boarded and its crew murdered, with "Red Hand" written in blood on a message left behind. Cromwell vows to eliminate the mysterious avenger.