Beadle's Dime Novels No. 114: Ned Starling

About this issue

This issue contains two works. The lead serial, "Sons of Liberty" by an unnamed author, presents a Revolutionary War narrative described as historically accurate and dramatic in action. The main feature is the complete novel "Ned Starling; or, The Marauder's Island" by J. Stanley Henderson. Set in December 1835, the story follows two travelers journeying through the wild Arkansas wilderness toward the Mississippi River during a period when bands of marauders infest the region. Edward "Ned" Starling, a young former soldier heading to Tennessee to claim his promised bride and work newly purchased land, encounters Father Higbie, an itinerant Methodist preacher assigned to the Tennessee Conference. Their dialogue establishes mutual wariness and introduces contrasting character types—the honest frontiersman and the fervent evangelist engaged in theological debate over salvation and morality. The narrative builds toward their approach of the predicted storm.