Black Horse Bill, the Bandit Wrecker

# Catalog Note: Black Horse Bill, the Bandit Wrecker

"Black Horse Bill, the Bandit Wrecker; or, Two Brave Boys to the Rescue" by Roger Starbuck appears in this September 1891 issue. The story concerns Black Horse Bill, a ruthless wrecker who leads a gang preying on ships along the Atlantic coast near Georgia. Bill, an eighteen-year-old former blacksmith of unusual strength, operates from a hidden base with confederates. The narrative opens with Bill interrogating Jim Loman about a captured revenue officer in disguise; the young officer escapes with help from Loman's wife Moll. Bill then encounters the wrecked bark Caroline, murders its captain after learning of valuable cargo (cotton and coffee), and begins plundering the vessel. Unknown to the wreckers, Captain Reeves's sixteen-year-old son Jack survives aboard, witnessing his father's murder and vowing vengeance. Jack secures provisions and observes the wreckers systematically looting the ship.