Caryl S. Fleming

An adventure tale set in the North Woods. The villain, smuggler Jules Payette, would give anything if Jeanne would give in. Saving her virtue in the nick of time is stalwart Pierre, who turns out to be a Northwest Mountie.

English sleuths Grace Burton and Stephen Pryde are in love, but when Stephen inherits wealth and a title, he does not tell Grace, fearing that she will stop loving him. Grace provides support for her sister Stella Ford, whose husband is frequently away on business trips, so Stephen, hoping to alleviate Grace's financial burden, pays all of Stella's debts and provides her with an allowance. When Grace learns of the arrangement, she is hurt that he did not confide in her. Stella lives in a building occupied by a wild crowd. In the flat above her lives Netta, who has numerous boyfriends, including Jerome, an older man, and Bartlett, a young fop. One evening, the rivals mistakenly enter Stella's apartment and in an ensuing fight, Jerome kills Bartlett.

"Al" Spencer, a gambler who is not averse to cheating, who occupies an apartment with his wife and daughter, abandons his family after attacking and robbing a card player a confederate had brought to his place. In the same building lives Nancy Springer, a shoplifter whose thieving husband is in prison awaiting trial.

Oklahoma lawyer Al Jennings, whose father was a famous and respected judge, is enraged at the murder of his brother Ed, shot in the back by two killers. As if that wasn't enough, he finds himself falsely accused of robbery, and while escaping those phony charges he is chased and shot by a posse. Although wounded, he manages to elude the posse but takes his revenge by robbing a country store. It's not long before he has his own outlaw gang, with headquarters at the Spike S Ranch. A local sheriff is determined to capture him, so Al and his brother Frank make plans for one last, big robbery before leaving Oklahoma forever. —frankfob2@yahoo.com