Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 56

This is an installment from the "Nick Whiffles" serial by Captain J. F. C. Adams, published in Beadle's Half-Dime Library (No. 56, 1878). The narrative opens four years after previous events, finding the elderly frontier trapper Nick Whiffles at his cabin cleaning his rifle. His young companion Ned Hazel, now nearly twenty and educated in England, suddenly arrives unannounced, returning a year early from his schooling. Ned reveals his concern that Miona, a girl they left behind in a nearby Indian village, may be promised to Red Bear, son of chief Woo-wol-na. Nick confirms the arrangement exists. The two men plan to visit the village to assess the situation and extract Miona if possible. After spending the night together, they check Ned's traps the following morning, kill beavers, and travel to meet Ned's six-man expedition party at the riverside, preparing to navigate further downriver toward the village.