Beadle's Pocket Novels No. 10

About this issue

This 1874 pulp serial by Captain Mayne Reid, titled "The Island Pirate: A Tale of the Mississippi," follows a British traveler through Tennessee and the Mississippi valley seeking authentic adventure. The narrative opens with the protagonist's visit to the Tennessee State Penitentiary, where he encounters the notorious pirate and murderer Murrell, a blacksmith turned river robber who preyed on flatboats and keelboats despite having numerous confederates among merchants, planters, and clergymen. After leaving the prison, the traveler meets a young planter who invites him to visit his family's cotton plantation; the planter reveals the traveler had previously met his sister, the beautiful Cornelia Woodley, aboard a steamboat. The traveler accepts, learning the plantation lies forty miles beyond Columbia along Duck River—a substantial cotton operation despite Tennessee's northern climate.