The Man from New York; or, The Romance of a Rich Young Woman

The Man from New York: Or, The Romance of a Rich Young Woman

Albert W. Aiken's serialized Western narrative begins in Montana Bar, a mining camp in the Black Hills near Deadwood. Vigilantes capture an exhausted man they believe to be Johnny Reid, the outlaw leader of a notorious road-agent band recently defeated in a gunfight. At a lynch trial before a jury of miners, the accused man's testimony that he is an innocent prospector is disbelieved. A mysterious stranger named John Peters intervenes by identifying the prisoner as his legitimate mining partner, providing documentation that convinces the presiding judge of the man's innocence. The prisoner is released, and both men depart the valley. Their subsequent private conversation reveals the prisoner has been traveling under the alias "Johnny Reid" for a year, though he protests he won't return East without success. Chapter II shifts to the Cunard steamer Bothnia arriving in New York after a stormy Atlantic crossing, carrying passengers returning from Europe, including two traveling companions of apparent importance.