THE HIGHWAYMAN

by Noel B. Gerson ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A

Climaxing in the Louisburg Expedition of 1745, in which an audacious gamble defeated an impregnable fort, this pieces together some romancing to glamour up the episode. William Pepperrell's daughter, Mercy, loves his right hand man, Peter Staples, but she is fascinated almost to infatuation with Jacques Duphaine, Marquis de Gremont, the gentlemanly cutpurse known as the Highwayman. Robbed by him in the woods, flirted with in Boston, she is captured by him when he abducts Peter, to get information about plans to attack the French, and taken to Louisburg. There Peter is tortured and imprisoned and Mercy bargains marriage to Jacques for Peter's release. She is hidden in an Indian tribe and almost married to a young chief while Peter is left to Jeanne, who, instead of learning his military secrets, falls in love with him. Peter watches Popperrell's and Warren's attack, invasion and stalemate, is freed by Jacques and is the means of the surrender when he escapes to the British colonial forces. Jacques plays it safe and returns Mercy to Peter after he rescues her from her Indian marriage. Little need for head work in the heart work here, but a nice aiche of history.

Pub Date: N/A

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1955

Categories: FICTION