The Legend of Thunder Moon

Originally published in 1927-28, this is the first of four novelettes in Brand's Thunder Moon series. Brand (1892-1944), a pseudonym of Frederick Faust, captures the spirit and pride of the Cheyenne Indians on the Great Plains in this story of a young white captive's growth to manhood as a Cheyenne warrior. Big Hard Face is an honorable, respected Cheyenne warrior. His three marriages have produced no son, however. Alone, he travels on a perilous journey to the white man's villages, where he kidnaps a white male infant, whom he names Thunder Moon. As the years pass, the boy brings both joy and sorrow to Big Hard Face. Thunder Moon has difficulty accepting some Cheyenne rituals, but he rides on dangerous raids against his tribe's enemies to prove himself worthy of his father's respect and to seek his own place as a Cheyenne warrior. Brand's mastery of the genre is still evident in this artfully crafted story. (Aug.)