Beadle's Dime Novels No. 58: The Mad Hunter

About this issue

This issue contains "The Mad Hunter; or, The Downfall of the Le-Forests" by Mrs. M. A. Denison. The story opens in a western New York village where seventeen-year-old May Rogerly, daughter of a wealthy glassworks owner, anticipates attending the town's first ball, organized by the vain Rafe Le Forest. May lives modestly with her father and aunt Hannah, contrasting with the ostentatious Le Forest household and neighboring widow Mrs. Barclay, who struggles with a mortgage held by Le Forest's agent father. A mysterious elderly hunter arrives at May's home—an uncouth but reverent figure who, after she offers him food, cryptically warns of impending trouble affecting the household, claiming divine guidance. When Rafe appears, the old hunter's reaction suggests prior connection or grievance, his fury barely suppressed.