Fred Fearnot in the Big Swamp

Fred Fearnot in the Big Swamp

Work and Win, No. 548 (June 4, 1909)

By Hal Standish

Fred Fearnot and Terry Olcott, two wealthy and adventurous youths, receive a extortion letter from "the Iron Arm" gang demanding ten thousand dollars, postmarked from Palm Creek, Florida, threatening Fred's life. Fred dismisses it at first, but learns from acquaintance Dick Hall that the Iron Arm is a genuinely dangerous criminal organization responsible for murders across the South. Dick, who owns a tobacco plantation near Palm Creek in the Everglades region, invites Fred and Terry to visit, hunt in the swamps, and investigate the threatening letter. After some deliberation, they contemplate the trip. The narrative breaks as Fred walks home to his hotel and something whizzes past his ear in the dark near Third Avenue—an apparent assassination attempt.