"Headless horseman" is a novel by Mine Reid, written in 1865 and based on the author's adventures in America.

The novel takes place in the fifties of the XIX century in the border regions of Texas. Wealthy planter Woodley Poindexter and his family of son, daughter and nephew move from Louisiana to their new home, Casa del Corvo.

Lost on a scorched plain on their way to their new hacienda, the Poindexter family meets Maurice Gerald, a mustanger who lives near the military fort Inge, but a native of northern Ireland. Maurice immediately made an impression on all members of the family, but each - his own. Proud Woodley treated his savior with respect, his son Henry almost immediately fell in love with him with brotherly love, the young planter's sister Louise immediately fell in love with the mustanger, even despite his modest social status.

Old Poindexter's nephew, the retired Captain Cassius Calhoun, instantly hated the new hero, partly because he wanted to marry Louise himself, and partly because of his cowardice and arrogance.

Shortly after the Poindexters have settled in the Casa del Corvo, the planter hosts a big reception to mark a successful move and closer acquaintance with the Texas elite. Maurice Gerald is also present at this reception, who undertook to deliver two dozen wild horses to the planter's family. In accordance with Irish custom, he gives a rare and valuable mustang to the daughter of a planter, which further inflames love in her heart and hatred in her cousin's soul. Now he is already determined to remove the young mustanger from his path. Having conceived a cunning plan to kill Maurice, he decides to carry it out the next evening, in the bar of the village, which was formed near Fort Inge. He allegedly accidentally pushed and doused the Irishman, who answered him the same. The resulting quarrel ends in a duel. Calhoun clearly underestimated his opponent, and paid the price, surviving only thanks to the generosity of Maurice. Thus, by winning this fight, the mustanger won the respect of the locals and officers of the fort, and also made the retired captain terrified of him.

Calhoun does not back down from his plan to kill Maurice, but not with his own hands, but by paying another mustanger, bandit Miguel Diaz. Diaz, having learned that the Indians are on the warpath, gladly agrees to this business.

At the same time, after the recovery of Maurice, he and Louise began to secretly correspond with the help of the so-called. "air mail", and then, unable to withstand a long separation, meet in the garden of Casa del Corvo. After their last meeting, a tragic event occurred. Calhoun finds Maurice and Louise in the garden and persuades Louise's brother to kill the mustanger. Thanks partly to the intercession of Louise, partly to the prudence of Henry, Maurice manages to escape unscathed. Young Poindexter, after listening to his sister, decides that he acted unreasonably, and is going to catch up with Gerald and apologize to him. At night, he leaves in pursuit of the mustanger. Following Henry, his cousin Cassius leaves, but with a different purpose: he knows that tomorrow Maurice is leaving for Ireland, and decides to kill him that night.

The next morning, as they gather for breakfast, the Poindexter family discovers that Henry, contrary to his habit, did not get up on time and did not show up for an early breakfast. He wasn't in the house either. At this time, one of the slaves caught his horse on the prairie, without a rider and smeared with blood. Everyone thinks Henry Poindexter is dead. In search of the body and the killer, a detachment of armed planters and soldiers is equipped, who in their search achieves some success and finds evidence of the death of the young man. During the search, this squad encounters a terrible headless horseman. Not finding a reasonable guess what it could be, the detachment goes to spend the night.

On the same night, Diaz and his accomplices, disguised as Indians, invade Maurice's home on the Alamo with the clear intention of killing him. Not finding him there, they decide to wait for him in the hut. And soon someone arrived. But not the owner of the dwelling, but the same headless horseman. Frightened to death, the bandits quickly retreated. They were the second to see the mysterious headless horseman.

Meanwhile, Maurice's friend, Zebulon Stump, worried about the disappearance of the Irishman, was in his hut with his servant Felim, who was scared to death by the Indians. They receive a note from the Mustanger delivered by his dog Tara. They go to the indicated place and barely make it in time, killing the jaguar that attacked the guy. Maurice was very ill, because of what - is unknown. The old hunter Stump and the mustanger's servant Felim take the young man to their house, where he is found by a search party. After finding Henry's clothes in his cabin, the Regulators decide to have a lynching on the spot. But thanks to the intervention of Zeb Stumpa, as well as Indian things in Maurice's hut, talking about a possible Comanche invasion, the trial is postponed.

Meanwhile, everyone is sure that Henry Poindexter is dead and Maurice Gerald is responsible for his death. In a state of fever, he awaits a legal trial in the guardhouse of Fort Inge. Some friends of the mustanger, namely the major, the commandant of the fort, Spangler, Zeb Stump and Louise Poindexter are sure that the murder was not committed by Maurice, but by someone else. After gaining three extra days from the major to delay the trial, Zeb Stump sets off for the prairie, where he is determined to find evidence of his friend's innocence. And he finds them, and now he knows for sure who the real killer is and what the mysterious headless horseman is. He reports everything to the commandant of the fort, and everyone is awaiting trial.

Having woken up from the clouding of his mind, Maurice gives evidence at the trial, which makes many change their minds about the mustanger's guilt in this crime. Things change even more drastically when people see the headless horseman approaching the place of judgment.

This is where this monstrous secret is revealed. All this time, Henry Poindexter was the headless horseman. Calhoun killed him. This became known when they managed to extract from the body of Henry a bullet marked with the initials of Cassius Calhoun "K. K. K ”(“ Captain Cassius Calhoun ”). From the testimony of Maurice, it turned out that at the meeting, Henry and Maurice, according to the old custom of the Comanches, exchanged clothes and hats as a sign of reconciliation. Maurice then left, and Henry remained in that place, and after them the retired captain who pursued them also came there. Seeing a man in Mexican clothes, he mistook his brother for Maurice and shot him with a gun, and then cut off the head of the corpse. Maurice, who used to live among the Comanches, got acquainted with their custom of delivering warriors who died in battle on their war horses, hoisted Henry's body on his horse, and tied his head to the pommel of the saddle. Henry himself got on his horse, but, not knowing how to control someone else's horse, he turned him towards the terrible horseman. The horse was frightened by a terrible sight and suffered. Maurice, on the other hand, hit his head on a thick branch of a tree, fell from his horse and received a severe concussion. This was the reason for his sudden illness. And the horse with the headless corpse roamed the prairies for a long time until it ended up at the final court.

The main characters of the "Headless Horseman"

• Maurice Gerald is the main character, a poor mustanger in the USA and a wealthy baronet in his homeland.
• Louise Poindexter is Maurice's lover.
• Woodley Poindexter - Louise's father, a planter.
• Cassius Calhoun - Woodley's nephew, a retired military man with a scandalous reputation, loves Louise, shot himself at the final trial.
• Henry Poindexter - Louise's brother, killed and beheaded by his cousin, who mistook him for Maurice, his corpse and is the "Headless Horseman".
• Old Zebulon Stump is a hunter, a friend of Maurice who saved his life and proved his innocence.
• Miguel Diaz - Mexican, nicknamed "El Coyote", was executed after the murder of Isidora.
• Isidora Covarubio De Los Llanos - Diaz's lover, loves Maurice, killed by Diaz.
• Major Ringwood - officer, delayed Maurice's trial for three days.
• Spangler is a tracker, participated in the search for Henry or his body, one of the first to see the "Headless Horseman".
• Pluto is a servant in the Poindexter family.
• Felim O'Neill is Maurice's servant and foster brother.
• Tara - Maurice's dog, saved him several times from coyotes.
• Sam Manley is the leader of the regulars, the only one who believed in Maurice's innocence.
• Riders, regulars, people on trial, Diaz's accomplices, servants.
• Oberdofer - the owner of the inn

Audio novel by Mine Reed "The Headless Horseman", Biography of the author. Characteristics of heroes.
Thomas Mine Reid was born in 1818 in Ireland in the family of a priest, died in London in 1883 in the arms of his faithful wife, Elizabeth Reed. Mine Reed hated pious admonitions. Instead of becoming a priest, he went to sea. The pages of a geography textbook came to life in front of him. He landed on the American coast. “For ten years I haven’t been able to live in one place for a week. I traveled America far and wide. I went down the Mississippi and took a canoe to the headwaters of the Orinoco ... I froze in an Eskimo hut ... I warmed myself in a hammock under palm trees ... ate raw meat ... ate fried monkeys ..." He hunted, tried to trade, tried to teach, collaborated in a newspaper when the war in Mexico began, joined the army, however, on the side of the Americans, and did not hate the "enemies" at all ". Mine Reed knew how to dream. If the dream was deceiving, he knew how to face the truth. There are no rules for those for whom the prairie and all nature is a source of profit. But those who live by their work, who know their business, have rules. These rules are like the skill of a mustanger, like the courage of a hunter: no wild "neuk" will knock a real rider out of the saddle, will not force a well-aimed shooter to go to meanness and betrayal. This is what life taught Mine Reed, and what he, as a lesson, sought to convey to his readers.
The heroes of his main novel, The Headless Horseman, live in post-war Texas: the planter Poindexter, his children, son Henry, daughter Louise, his nephew, Captain Cassius Calhoun, are Americans who moved to live in Texas. Other heroes are British subjects: the hunter Zeb Stump and Maurice the Mustanger.

Writer Mine Reed has always been distinguished by a thirst for adventure and new experiences. An avid traveler and a brave soldier, an excellent rider and a sharpshooter, a talented poet and publisher - all this was surprisingly combined in one person. The novel "The Headless Horseman" is rightfully considered one of the best works of the adventure genre. A skillfully constructed plot, colorful characters and an indescribable atmosphere of Texas in the 50s of the XIX century keep the reader in suspense until the very last page. The daughter of a wealthy planter and estate owner, Louise, fell in love with a poor mustanger, Maurice Gerald. One night they arrange a secret meeting, but it is at this time that the girl's brother, Henry, disappears without a trace. After some time, Maurice is found in the clothes of a young man with traces of a struggle on his body. The crowd is ready to lynch Gerald, but then the main witness of the crime appears - the mystical Headless Horseman. The publication was illustrated by the artist Nikolai Mikhailovich Kochergin. For middle school age.

Description added by user:

"Headless Horseman" - plot

The novel takes place in the fifties of the XIX century in the border regions of Texas. Wealthy planter Woodley Poindexter and his family of son, daughter and nephew move from Louisiana to their new home, Casa del Corvo.

Lost on a scorched plain on their way to their new hacienda, the Poindexter family meets Maurice Gerald, a mustanger who lives near the military fort Inge, but a native of northern Ireland. Maurice immediately made an impression on all members of the family, but each - his own. Proud Woodley treated his savior with respect, his son Henry almost immediately fell in love with him with brotherly love, the young planter's sister Louise immediately fell in love with the mustanger, even despite his modest social status.

Old Poindexter's nephew, the retired Captain Cassius Calhoun, instantly hated the new hero, partly because he wanted to marry Louise himself, and partly because of his cowardice and arrogance.

Shortly after the Poindexters have settled in the Casa del Corvo, the planter hosts a big reception to mark a successful move and closer acquaintance with the Texas elite. Maurice Gerald is also present at this reception, who undertook to deliver two dozen wild horses to the planter's family. In accordance with Irish custom, he gives a rare and valuable mustang to the daughter of a planter, which further inflames love in her heart and hatred in her cousin's soul. Now he is already determined to remove the young mustanger from his path. Having conceived a cunning plan to kill Maurice, he decides to carry it out the next evening, in the bar of the village, which was formed near Fort Inge. He allegedly accidentally pushed and doused the Irishman, who answered him the same. The resulting quarrel ends in a duel. Calhoun clearly underestimated his opponent, and paid the price, surviving only thanks to the generosity of Maurice. Thus, by winning this fight, the mustanger won the respect of the locals and officers of the fort, and also made the retired captain terrified of him.

Calhoun does not back down from his plan to kill Maurice, but not with his own hands, but by paying another mustanger, bandit Miguel Diaz. Diaz, having learned that the Indians are on the warpath, gladly agrees to this business.

At the same time, after the recovery of Maurice, he and Louise began to secretly correspond with the help of the so-called. "air mail", and then, unable to withstand a long separation, meet in the garden of Casa del Corvo. After their last meeting, a tragic event occurred. Calhoun finds Maurice and Louise in the garden and persuades Louise's brother to kill the mustanger. Thanks partly to the intercession of Louise, partly to the prudence of Henry, Maurice manages to escape unscathed. Young Poindexter, after listening to his sister, decides that he acted unreasonably, and is going to catch up with Gerald and apologize to him. At night, he leaves in pursuit of the mustanger. Following Henry, his cousin Cassius leaves, but with a different purpose: he knows that tomorrow Maurice is leaving for Ireland, and decides to kill him that night.

The next morning, as they gather for breakfast, the Poindexter family discovers that Henry, contrary to his habit, did not get up on time and did not show up for an early breakfast. He wasn't in the house either. At this time, one of the slaves caught his horse on the prairie, without a rider and smeared with blood. Everyone thinks Henry Poindexter is dead. In search of the body and the killer, a detachment of armed planters and soldiers is equipped, who in their search achieves some success and finds evidence of the death of the young man. During the search, this squad encounters a terrible headless horseman. Not finding a reasonable guess what it could be, the detachment goes to spend the night.

On the same night, Diaz and his accomplices, disguised as Indians, invade Maurice's home on the Alamo with the clear intention of killing him. Not finding him there, they decide to wait for him in the hut. And soon someone arrived. But not the owner of the dwelling, but the same headless horseman. Frightened to death, the bandits quickly retreated. They were the second to see the mysterious headless horseman.

Meanwhile, Maurice's friend, Zebulon Stump, worried about the disappearance of the Irishman, was in his hut with his servant Felim, who was scared to death by the Indians. They receive a note from the Mustanger delivered by his dog Tara. They go to the indicated place and barely make it in time, killing the jaguar that attacked the guy. Maurice was very ill, because of what - is unknown. The old hunter Stump and the mustanger's servant Felim take the young man to their house, where he is found by a search party. After finding Henry's clothes in his cabin, the Regulators decide to have a lynching on the spot. But thanks to the intervention of Zeb Stumpa, as well as Indian things in Maurice's hut, talking about a possible Comanche invasion, the trial is postponed.

Meanwhile, everyone is sure that Henry Poindexter is dead and Maurice Gerald is responsible for his death. In a state of fever, he awaits a legal trial in the guardhouse of Fort Inge. Some friends of the mustanger, namely the major, the commandant of the fort, Spangler, Zeb Stump and Louise Poindexter are sure that the murder was not committed by Maurice, but by someone else. After gaining three extra days from the major to delay the trial, Zeb Stump sets off for the prairie, where he is determined to find evidence of his friend's innocence. And he finds them, and now he knows for sure who the real killer is and what the mysterious headless horseman is. He reports everything to the commandant of the fort, and everyone is awaiting trial.

Having woken up from the clouding of his mind, Maurice gives evidence at the trial, which makes many change their minds about the mustanger's guilt in this crime. Things change even more drastically when people see the headless horseman approaching the place of judgment.

This is where this monstrous secret is revealed. All this time, Henry Poindexter was the headless horseman. Calhoun killed him. This became known when they managed to extract from the body of Henry a bullet marked with the initials of Cassius Calhoun "K. K. K ”(“ Captain Cassius Calhoun ”). From the testimony of Maurice, it turned out that at the meeting, Henry and Maurice, according to the old custom of the Comanches, exchanged clothes and hats as a sign of reconciliation. Maurice then left, and Henry remained in that place, and after them the retired captain who pursued them also came there. Seeing a man in Mexican clothes, he mistook his brother for Maurice and shot him with a gun, and then cut off the head of the corpse. Maurice, who used to live among the Comanches, got acquainted with their custom of delivering warriors who died in battle on their war horses, hoisted Henry's body on his horse, and tied his head to the pommel of the saddle. Henry himself got on his horse, but, not knowing how to control someone else's horse, he turned him towards the terrible horseman. The horse was frightened by a terrible sight and suffered. Maurice, on the other hand, hit his head on a thick branch of a tree, fell from his horse and received a severe concussion. This was the reason for his sudden illness. And the horse with the headless corpse roamed the prairies for a long time until it ended up at the final court.

Reviews

Book Review: The Headless Horseman

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Alexander Logov

romantic exotic.

In one bibliographic article about the author of the novel "The Headless Horseman" I came across an extremely accurate expression that characterizes the writer's work - romantic exoticism. Exactly so, because the mysterious and terrible events that take place in the novel and do not let the reader go are still surrounded by romantic and love exoticism. Mine Reed himself lived a bright life full of adventures, worked as a teacher and reporter, traded with the Indians, took part in the war between the United States and Mexico, married a fifteen-year-old beauty at the age of 33, participated in revolutions and wandered around the world in search of inspiration, had a firm civic position and boldly declared it, but died of a nervous and physical disorder. The writer gained fame during his lifetime and remained in history as one of the most popular authors of adventure novels.

The storyline is built according to the laws of the genre: on the expanses of a scorched prairie, the family of a wealthy planter Woodley Poindexter meets Maurice Gerald. The circumstances were such that the planter's family got lost when moving to a new estate, and the modest mustanger turned out to be their savior. It is clear that the young daughter Louise falls in love with the hero at first sight, the head of the family is imbued with respect and gratitude for him, and Cassius Calhoun - Woodley's nephew and Louise's cousin - immediately looks at the rival's savior. Further events develop rapidly: the heroes are seized by the desire to catch up, kill, restore justice, take revenge, love and be loved.

Year of writing: 1865

Genre: novel

Main characters: Gerald- mustanger, Cassius- wealthy relative Poindexters, Louise and Henry- the master's children Poindexter

A wonderful, moderately mysterious and full of adventure story is carefully described in the summary of the novel "The Headless Horseman" for the reader's diary. It is recommended to read the original - you will like it!

Plot

Gerald participates in a mustang show and falls in love with Louise. The girl also has feelings for the young man. Cassius notices the sympathy between them and is terribly jealous, because he wants to marry Louise. Gerald and Louise meet in secret. Gerald is a poor mustanger and cannot marry a rich aristocrat, but is going to leave, and upon his return to marry her. Their date is caught by Cassius and Henry. Henry quarrels with Gerald, he leaves. Louise explains to her brother that he is a noble man. Henry rides after the mustanger, followed by Cassius. In the morning, the bloodied horse Henry comes to the estate without a rider. The search begins. In the forest they see a terrible horseman without a head. Everyone thinks it's Gerald. After much intrigue, it turns out that Cassius accidentally killed Henry. Zeb Stump finds Gerald wounded in the woods and also solves Cassius' crime. Gerald and Louise stay together.

Conclusion (my opinion)

The main conclusion is that everything secret becomes clear, and also that evil will certainly be avenged. Love and nobility cross all social barriers, and honesty and courage, both men and women equally save human lives.

The Headless Horseman, whose main characters are the subject of this review, is a well-known work by the English writer M. Reed, written by him in 1865. This work is one of the most famous in the author's work, it occupies a prominent place in world literature and was filmed by the Soviet film studio in 1973.

Characteristics of the main character

At the very beginning, the writer introduces the reader to several characters in his story at once. The story begins with a description of the move of the wealthy planter Woodley Poindexter and his family to a new place of residence. On the way, a small detachment got lost, but was saved by a courageous mustanger, whose name was Maurice Gerald. a strong and handsome young man, a native of Ireland. In America, he occupied a very modest social position, as he was engaged in hunting for however, in his homeland, he bore the title of baronet. This man immediately made a great impression on travelers.

The work "The Headless Horseman", the main characters of which have bright and memorable characters, has a dynamic plot that captures the reader from the very first pages. So, already at the very beginning, a conflict is brewing between the brave mustanger and the planter's nephew - Cassius Calhoun.

Description of the villain

This character is the antagonist of the protagonist of the novel. He immediately disliked his new acquaintance out of jealousy: he was in love with his cousin Louise, the daughter of a planter, and wanted to marry her, but she fell in love with Maurice at first sight. Cassius was a retired military man with a very bad reputation. In addition, he is cowardly and arrogant, that is, he is the complete opposite of the hunter, which further intensifies the conflict between them.

Louise Poindexter

The novel "The Headless Horseman", the main characters of which are written by the writer with the skill of a real psychologist, is interesting because in it the elements of action-packed action are intertwined with a detective line. Beloved Maurice played a decisive role in the intrigue. Because of her, there was a quarrel between the hunter and her cousin, who was terribly jealous of her. Louise is a brave and determined girl. She has a strong-willed character, she is brave, reasonable, but at the same time jealous, and sometimes can be quick-tempered. Nevertheless, it attracts the reader with courage, dexterity, responsiveness and devotion.

Woodley Poindexter and his son

The work “The Headless Horseman”, the main characters of which are distinguished by their integrity and expressiveness of characters, quite accurately and accurately conveys the situation in America in the middle of the nineteenth century. Woodley is a typical representative of the class of ruined planters-landowners, of whom there were many in American society on the eve of the Civil War. This man is noble in his own way: so he, despite the difference in his position with the status of Maurice, immediately imbued with respect for him. He received him as a guest and treated him as an equal. He is a loving father and caring owner.

One of the most famous English writers is Mine Reid. The Headless Horseman is his most famous work, in which he reproduced his adventures in America. Another minor hero of the work is Louise's brother, Henry. This is a hot young man who, to his misfortune, quarreled with Maurice because of his sister, which largely predetermined his fate, because Cassius, taking advantage of the quarrel, decided to kill the hunter and put all the blame on his cousin. However, he confused him with his rival and mistakenly killed Henry, whose corpse scared the locals.

Other minor characters

The true master of prose is Mine Reed. "The Headless Horseman" is a work in which he skillfully combined drama, detective story and love line. One of the most colorful supporting characters is Maurice's friend Zeb Stump. He is brave, honest and noble. It was he who saved the protagonist from certain death (lynching) and proved that he was not guilty of killing Henry.

Another heroine of the work is Isidora. This very hot and short-tempered woman who is in love with Maurice. Upon learning that she has a happy rival, she tries in every possible way to quarrel the lovers. At the same time, she deceives Diaz, who is in love with her, a jealous Mexican, who out of jealousy kills her at the end of the work, for which he himself is immediately lynched. So, a review of his most famous novel and a brief retelling of it allows you to get a general idea of ​​\u200b\u200bReed's work. "The Headless Horseman" is a work that is a true classic of American literature.