The novel revolves around two sociable junior officers of the British garrison then stationed in Quebec City, who enjoy a lively life of parties and pastimes. Lieutenant Alexander Macrorie, the narrator, rescues a mysterious young lady from the ice floes of the St. Lawrence River. When she disappears his search brings him surprising acquaintances and unexpected perils. His carefree sidekick, Jack Randolph, is trying to extricate himself from simultaneous engagements to three ladies.

JAMES DE MILLE was born in Saint John, NB, in 1833, and educated at Acadia College, Wolfville, NS, and Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island. He taught classics at Acadia College, and rhetoric and history at Dalhousie College in Halifax. He had a successful career as a prolific and popular novelist. He died in 1880, and his best known novel, "A Stange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder", was published posthumously in 1888.

James De Mille's profile page

GEORGE L. PARKER is Professor Emeritus of English of The Royal Military College of Canada, Kingston, Ontario. He published The Beginnings of the Book Trade in Canada (1985), edited Thomas Chandler Haliburton's The Clockmaker, Series One, Two, and Three (1995), and is the author of numerous articles on Canadian authors and publishers. He lives in working retirement in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

George Parker's profile page