The Shadow of a Curse

This catalog note describes the opening of a serial novel titled "The Shadow of a Curse: Or, Under the Lilac Bush," serialized in this pulp magazine issue. The narrative establishes two aristocratic Virginia families in the 1830s: the devout Cassil Waud family, whose children are raised with Christian principles and strict moral discipline, and the wealthy Godfried Hegmeyher family, whose patriarch rules through iron authority while rejecting religious training. In 1846, reports of western opportunity prompt the Waud family to sell their ancestral estate and migrate westward, though death claims their youngest daughter before departure. During the arduous covered-wagon journey, the family maintains religious devotion through daily prayer and Sabbath observance. Upon reaching the Ohio River, the family is forced to halt their journey when daughter Lillian contracts measles with serious complications; the OCR becomes garbled before the episode concludes.