Munsey's Magazine, April 1924

# Munsey's Magazine, April 1924

This issue features "Riders of the Hidden Trail," a complete short novel by Charles Wesley Sanders. The story concerns Thomas Kane, a retired Oklahoma deputy sheriff turned oil magnate who lives contentedly with his young wife, Bessie, in his new bungalow. When the sheriff telephones requesting Kane's assistance pursuing an escaped penitentiary convict named Shartel—a violent murderer serving a life sentence who killed a woman and child years earlier and has stolen horses and guns—Kane prepares to join a posse hunt in the hills. His wife, terrified by the danger and their newfound happiness, begs him to refuse. Torn between duty to the community and devotion to his wife, Kane yields to her pleas and removes his gun belt. The narrative explores the psychological conflict between his sense of obligation and his domestic happiness, with Bessie subsequently experiencing guilt for restraining him.