The Crossed Knives

This is the opening installment of W. J. Hamilton's "The Crossed Knives; or, The Island League," a romance adventure set on an island in Lake Superior near Minnesota's north woods, rich in precious metals.

Three men—Gaston Foix (a handsome Frenchman), Black Wolf (a scarred half-breed Sioux), and Buck Bracer (a crime-hardened border tough)—swear a blood oath over crossed bowies to keep secret the location of their island discovery and guard it against all intruders. Foix plans to purchase the land from the U.S. government.

The narrative follows conflicts emerging from this pact. Foix harbors grudge against Wallace Burton, a stranger who bested him in wrestling at Hunt's settlement. Bracer and old hunter Jesse Turner hold mutual antagonisms. When Foix and Bracer encounter Wallace and Jess at a hunting camp, tensions escalate into veiled threats of future violence. Discovering that Bracer attempts to force his way into old Jess's cabin to proposition his young daughter Maude, Foix unexpectedly intervenes, striking Bracer down to defend the girl's honor—an act that complicates the three men's alliance.