Item - The Twin Scouts. A Story of the Old French War

(Beadle's Dime Novels edition - source: NIU Libraries)

(Beadle's Boy's Library of Sport, Story, and Adventure (Octavo edition) edition - source: NIU Libraries)

(Beadle's Pocket Library edition - source: NIU Libraries)

Combined Summary

Online Full Text:	Northern Illinois University (Beadle's Boy's Library of Sport, Story, and Adventure (Octavo edition) edition) Northern Illinois University (Beadle's Dime Novels edition) Northern Illinois University (Beadle's Pocket Library edition)
Series:	Beadle's American Library — no. 69 Beadle's Boy's Library of Sport, Story and Adventure (Octavo edition) — no. 159 Beadle's Dime Novels — no. 92 Beadle's Pocket Library — no. 466 Beadle's Pocket Novels — no. 207
Alternate Titles:	Sam's Long Trail; or, The Twin Scouts The Twin Buckskins; or, Sam's Long Trail
Subjects / Tags:	Adventure stories African Americans Braddock, Edward, 1695?-1755 Canadians English Erdman, Jean, Baron Dieskau, 1701-1767 Forests and forestry French Frontier and pioneer life Historical fiction History Indian captivities Indians of North America Johnson, William, 1715-1774 Mohawk River (N.Y.) Twins United States War stories
Author:	Hamilton, W. J., 1843-1892 (pseudonym used by Clark, Charles Dunning, 1843-1892)
Dates:	March 3, 1866 (Beadle's Dime Novels edition) November 1, 1866 (Beadle's American Library edition) May 30, 1882 (Beadle's Pocket Novels edition) April 30, 1887 (Beadle's Boy's Library of Sport, Story, and Adventure (Octavo edition) edition) December 14, 1892 (Beadle's Pocket Library edition)
Publishers:	Beadle's American Library edition: George Routledge and Sons (London (England): The Broadway, Ludgate) -- Great Britain Beadle's Boy's Library of Sport, Story, and Adventure (Octavo edition) edition: Beadle and Adams (1872-1898) (New York (N.Y.): No. 98 William Street) -- United States Beadle's Dime Novels edition: Beadle and Company (New York (N.Y.): 118 William St.) -- United States Beadle's Pocket Library edition: Beadle and Adams (1872-1898) (New York (N.Y.): No. 98 William Street) -- United States
OCLC Numbers:	1026392394 (Beadle's Pocket Library edition) 122230522 (Beadle's Dime Novels edition) 84663063 (Beadle's Boy's Library of Sport, Story, and Adventure (Octavo edition) edition)
ENGL 330 Spring 2018's Thoughts:	"Alph and Ben Armitage are twin brothers charged with finding the whereabouts of the French military during the French and Indian War. Ben suggests that they continue along the Mohawk River toward the home of the Middletons, because he has feelings for the daughter, Flora Middleton. They encounter two Natives at the Middletons' home, one of whom Alph accuses of being a renegade. The Native man removes pardon papers and displays them, satisfying everyone but Alph who goes on a tirade about “savages.” The men continue their hunt for the location of the French, now moving toward Crown Point by following the trail of the two Natives who had left the Middletons just before them. The brothers realize that the Native trail they were following had stopped, alerting them that their targets were now behind them. So, the Scouts run out of sight, hide, and wait for their would-be ambushers to pass them. The brothers debate giving them quick, clean deaths or teaching them “a lesson they would not forget by giving them a sound flogging” (28). The brothers decide on the latter. The Native men plead for death rather than be disgraced by flogging. The twins, knowing this, sarcastically remark that they are doing the Natives a service by “lessening” the punishment. The author states that it would be useless to fill in the middle, so the story picks back up once the men reach the camp of the French Army at Crown Point. Alph infiltrates the camp until one of the Natives from earlier explains to the French colonel that there is a spy, and Alph is found and captured. He is able to signal his brother, though, who comes to his aid with the help of the English army. The following battles contain no less than three double-crosses, two acts of murderous revenge, and the death of four major military leaders: two French, one English, and one native. Ben, now searching for his captive brother, Alph, rescues him from his French captors, then the twins proceed to slaughter the soldiers. They return to the Middleton estate, which they find burned down and everyone missing except for the Middleton’s house slave, Big Sam. Big Sam then recounts what happened: the Natives had taken Flora and razed her homestead. The setting then changes to Flora in captivity. She is taken to the Huron village, where she is met by the village chief’s wife, Me-rah. Flora finds out that Me-rah is compassionate and a Christian, abhorring things such as death and scalping. The Armitage Boys close in on the Huron village, intending to rescue Flora. During this time, the chief and his brother, the two Natives flogged by the Armitage brothers, argue over Flora’s fate, and they challenge each other to the death. Before that, however, the Armitage brothers and allies rescue Flora and Me-rah and begin their retreat, trying to evade recapture. Later, they are ambushed by the chief of the Huron village, who is finally bested by the Twin Scouts. Before his death, he informs the brothers of a significant detail regarding Me-rah, Flora’s new best friend. The novel ends with multiple marriages."--Jon Bunte, undergraduate student at NIU enrolled in ENGL 330, Spring 2018 More reviews by ENGL 330 Spring 2018