With Hoops of Steel

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Pages: 163

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About this book

Lost on the New Mexico plains, Thomson Tuttle follows a campfire in search of water for his tired horse and supper for himself. His welcome comes at gunpoint. A stranger questions him, takes his weapons and feeds him while another man keeps watch. Florence Finch Kelly builds the opening of this Western novel around the uneasy mixture of hospitality and suspicion, with brisk conversation set against sand, mesquite and distant mountains.

The desert becomes an active source of danger in a later passage, as Wellesly struggles toward a mountain pass. Swirling sand clouds, fierce heat and the appearance of water confuse his sense of direction. Readers interested in frontier adventure will find close attention to the physical demands of travel as well as encounters between armed strangers. The contrast between companionable talk and sudden threats gives these scenes their particular tension.

About the author

Florence Finch Kelly

Florence Finch Kelly worked across American journalism, editing, criticism, and fiction, joining newspaper work with books about the West. Born in Illinois in 1858, she graduated from the University of Kansas in 1881 and later wrote for publications including the Boston Globe.