L.M. Wells

A picture of the great outdoors, peppered with the thrills that dreams are made of.

Colonel Fairfax, who lives on a Virginia plantation with his adopted daughter, Prudence, has remained faithful to the memory of his former fiancée, Constance Llewellyn, with whom he had a misunderstanding twenty years earlier. When Constance, now a widow, returns to the adjoining estate, the colonel plans to sell his home to avoid an embarrassing situation, but Prudence intends to reconcile the couple. Tom, the colonel's nephew, arrives at the plantation following his graduation from an agricultural college, and initiates a romance with Prudence.

A 15-chapter Western serial. The serial involves the mystery of the murder of William Stillman (Wells) and the finding of the heir to his fortune. Silent Joe (Farnum) arrives in an effort to discover the murderer and prove that he is the true heir. He and the heroine Lou (Anderson) have their adventures in the mountainous terrain with its "vanishing trails." They are aided by The Shadow (Orlamond), a demented scientist with his trained dog, and several remarkable, death-dealing inventions.

A young slum-reared fellow makes good with a man who befriends him and then sacrifices his good name to save the latter's son.

A young woman visiting in Mexico is kidnapped by a gang of bandits, who drag her through the rugged wilderness to their hideout. She manages to leave word for her friend Bill, who knows the country well. But when Bill cannot find a horse, his only available form of transportation is his roadster. Nevertheless, he is determined to come to her rescue, even though it means trying to drive the car across miles of rocky, broken terrain.

Huckleberry Finn, a rambuctious boy adventurer chafing under the bonds of civilization, escapes his humdrum world and his selfish, plotting father by sailing a raft down the Mississippi River. Accompanying him is Jim, a slave running away from being sold. Together the two strike a bond of friendship that takes them through harrowing events and thrilling adventures.

Sue Gordon, a mountain girl on the Tennessee side of the Cumberlands, lives with her grandmother. When "Granny" dies, Sue--fulfilling Granny's dying wish--goes to Chicago to live with John Peyton, an industrialist who was at one time Sue's mother's fiancé. She finds that Peyton's employees are on strike, and one of the strike's leaders is Peyton's son, Donald, to whom she is becoming increasingly attracted. Complications ensue.

Cheyenne Harry tries to help his outlaw friend Padden evade arrest after Padden has drunkenly shot another man. In the end, the two mismatched friends fight it out, leaving Padden dead. In a romantic subplot, Harry's fiancée Alice leaves him, but finally returns.

Orphaned after the death of their mother, Nancy Grimm and her baby sister Ellen are taken to the country where Ellen is adopted by the wealthy Walsh family. Nancy keenly feels the loss of her sister, and when the judge rules that she cannot visit Ellen without permission, she throws herself onto a bench, winning the sympathy of young attorney Chester Noble. Nancy is then placed in the Wick's home where she is treated as a servant. Miserable, Nancy cuts off her hair and, dressed as a boy, runs away.

The enemy's success in smuggling a spy through the lines places the Stratiria armies in a dangerous position. The spy is intercepted and killed by Pettrus Baariot, the telegraph operator, who then succeeds in sending a message that saves the Stratiria forces from defeat. For his heroism, Pettrus is promised a promotion, but after his recovery from his severe wounds, he is humiliated through the treachery of Danick Rysson, a government official who desires to marry Floria Natarre, Pettrus' beloved. Bitter, Pettrus listens to the overtures of one of the enemy and steals the new telegraph code.