The Fatal Cord, and The Falcon Rover

"The Fatal Cord and The Falcon Rover" by Mayne Reid is a novel written in the late 19th century. The story begins in a forested area of Arkansas, where a group of young hunters gathers for a bear hunt, depicting the rough and adventurous spirit of youth in the backwoods of America during this period. The novel combines themes of camaraderie, competition, and peril when a cruel prank results in a dangerous predicament for one of the characters, a mixed-race young hunter named Pierre Robideau. At the start of the narrative, we are introduced to a lively campfire scene where six boys celebrate their successful bear hunt. Among them is Brandon, a privileged youth who asserts dominance over the others, and Pierre, a young man of mixed heritage who is being subjected to their bullying. The playful atmosphere quickly turns dark when Brandon challenges Pierre to a hanging contest, intending to humiliate him. The open disregard for Pierre's safety escalates to a critical moment when the other boys abandon him, leaving him suspended by a noose they've rigged, prompting a desperate outcry for help that echoes in the silent forest. The tension escalates as Pierre grapples with his dire situation, setting the stage for a complex exploration of prejudice, revenge, and moral choices in a harsh frontier society. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Thomas Mayne Reid was a British novelist who fought in the Mexican–American War (1846–1848). His many works on American life describe colonial policy in the American colonies, the horrors of slave labour, and the lives of American Indians. "Captain" Reid wrote adventure novels akin to those by Frederick Marryat (1792-1848), and Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894). They were set mainly in the American West, Mexico, South Africa, the Himalayas, and Jamaica. He was an admirer of Lord Byron. His novel Quadroon (1856), an anti-slavery work, was later adapted as a play entitled The Octoroon (1859) by Dion Boucicault and produced in New York.