The first edition of this book is dated 1873. The edition used is dated 1873. The publisher was W. Swann Sonnenschein & Co. Ltd., London. The number of pages is 343.

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General information

This was quite a difficult book to transcribe. There were the usual difficulties with this author—his frequent use of words in Spanish, or the Mexican variety of Spanish, of words in French. In addition it must have been something of an experimental writing, for it is generally in the present tense, and there was frequent use made of new words that have not survived in the language. Much, indeed almost all, of the speech is uttered by uneducated persons, so that it needs perseverance, sometimes, to make out what is being said. Probably most of the speakers would not have been able to read, and would not have known how to pronounce the words they uttered. Added to all that the proof-reading, particularly towards the end of the book, left much to be desired, quite common words having letters missing or all jumbled up. Finally, the copy used was in a bad way, not from over-use, but from bad binding. It fell apart completely, and we had to continue the work on a scanner that can only read books that have been reduced to single pages.

We do not need to mention the problem usual with cheaply made books of that period, that punctuation marks, especially commas and full-stops, and especially at the corners of the pages, tend to disappear, and some degree of cunning has to be brought to bear to recover them.

To illustrate the poor proof-reading, one of the chapters was completely repeated, without any change in the flow of page numbers. This is something I have never before seen, though I have seen chapters completely omitted, without affecting the page-numbers!

All that having been said, I would like to think that the author would have been pleased with our version, for certain it is that it is better than the published book, although it is certain there are still some errors in our text. It does make a very nice audiobook, taking almost fifteen hours to read. At the time of writing this I have heard it twice, and enjoyed it thoroughly.

After some thought I decided to replace his coy Victorian “G—d”, “H—l”, “D—n” and “D—d” with their intended words. Doubtless there are some who will not be happy with this, but this book was written 130 years ago, and times have changed.

It has been suggested that this book was entirely re-written by the author, this being his final version. Although it is an unusual piece of writing it flows very well, and the author could well have been unhappy about the poor printing. Let us hope that he is looking down upon us with a gleam of pleasure in his eye.

As regards the subject matter, it is really very strange. There are murders with no body, murderers on the run with no evidence against them, murdered persons who are perfectly alive and well, Red Indians who are no such thing, a body which is buried and comes to life again, being dug up by a dog, and all the time against a truly beautiful description of the terrain, and a considerable tenderness towards the somewhat strange persons who form the cast of this unusual book.

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Contents

Preface

Prologue

Chapter I.
Two sorts of Slave-Owners.

Chapter II.
A flat refusal.

Chapter III.
A Forest Post-Office.

Chapter IV.
Two good girls.

Chapter V.
A photograph in the forest.

Chapter VI.
A coon-chase interrupted.

Chapter VII.
Murder without remorse.

Chapter VIII.
The coon-hunter cautious.

Chapter IX.
An assassin in retreat.

Chapter X.
The eve of departure.

Chapter XI.
Under the Trysting Tree.

Chapter XII.
The wrong man.

Chapter XIII.
The coon-hunter at home.

Chapter XIV.
Why comes he not?

Chapter XV.
A moonlight moving.

Chapter XVI.
What has become of Clancy?

Chapter XVII.
A bullet extracted.

The Death Shot — by Captain Mayne Reid

Chapter XIX.
The “Belle of Natchez.“

Chapter XX.
Saved by a sister.

Chapter XXI.
Seized by spectral arms.

Chapter XXII.
Up and down.

Chapter XXIII.
The sleep of the assassin.

Chapter XXIV.
The coon-hunter conscience-stricken.

Chapter XXV.
An unceremonious search.

Chapter XXVI.
Tell-tale tracks.

Chapter XXVII.
Additional evidence.

Chapter XXVIII.
“To the jail!“

Chapter XXIX.
A scheme of colonisation.

Chapter XXX.
News from Natchez.

Chapter XXXI.
Spectres in the street.

Chapter XXXII.
The “Choctaw Chief.“

Chapter XXXIII.
The murderer unmasked.

Chapter XXXIV.
“Will you be one of us?“

Chapter XXXV.
A ghost going its rounds.

Chapter XXXVI.
“She is true—still true!“

Chapter XXXVII.
The home of the hunted slave.

Chapter XXXVIII.
An excursion by canoe.

Chapter XXXIX.
Is it a corpse?

Chapter XL.
“Across the Sabine.“

Chapter XLI.
A repentant sinner.

Chapter XLII.
The prairie caravan.

Chapter XLIII.
The hand of God.

Chapter XLIV.
A cloud on the cliffs.

Chapter XLV.
A suspicious surveillance.

Chapter XLVI.
A suspected servant.

Chapter XLVII.
Opposite emblems.

Chapter XLVIII.
A blank day.

Chapter XLIX.
Waiting the word.

Chapter L.
An uncanny skulker.

Chapter LI.
Locked in.

Chapter LII.
Massacre without mercy.

Chapter LIII.
A horrid spectacle.

Chapter LIV.
Riding double.

Chapter LV.
Tired travellers.

Chapter LVI.
Spectral equestrians.

Chapter LVII.
Planning a capture.

Chapter LVIII.
Across the ford.

Chapter LIX.
A Foiled Ambuscade.

Chapter LX.
“The Live-Oak.“

Chapter LXI.
A ruffian triumphant.

Chapter LXII.
“Help! Help!“

Chapter LXIII.
An oath to be kept.

Chapter LXIV.
A wild farewell.

Chapter LXV.
For the rendezvous.

Chapter LXVI.
A scouting party.

Chapter LXVII.
A straying traveller.

Chapter LXVIII.
“Brasfort.“

Chapter LXIX.
Shadows behind.

Chapter LXX.
Surrounded and disarmed.

Chapter LXXI.
A pathless plain.

Chapter LXXII.
The prairie stocks.

Chapter LXXIII.
Helpless and hopeless.

Chapter LXXIV.
Coyote Creek.

Chapter LXXV.
A Transformation.

Chapter LXXVI.
Mestizo and mulatto.

Chapter LXXVII.
A strayed traveller.

Chapter LXXVIII.
Hours of agony.

Chapter LXXIX.
An unexpected visitor.

Chapter LXXX.
A Resurrectionist.

Chapter LXXXI.
The voice of vengeance.

Chapter LXXXII.
A man nearly mad.

Chapter LXXXIII.
At length the “Death Shot.“

Chapter LXXXIV.
The Scout’s Report.

Chapter LXXXV.
A change of programme.

Chapter LXXXVI.
Alone with the Dead.

Chapter LXXXVII.
Hostile Cohorts.

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