Project Gutenberg 2025-05-17 Public domain in the USA. 418 Craddock, Charles Egbert 1850 1922 Dembry, R. Emmett Murfree, Mary Noailles A spectre of power $aBoston :$bHoughton, Mifflin and Company, $c1903. Peter Becker, Laura Natal and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive) "A spectre of power" by Charles Egbert Craddock is a novel written in the early 20th century. Set in the Cherokee town of Great Tellico during the colonial struggle for influence, it follows a French officer and a Choctaw chief as they court Cherokee alliance—and collide with local custom and personal jealousy. The key figures are the French lieutenant Laroche, the Choctaw ambassador Mingo Push-koosh, the Cherokee leader Moy Toy, and his sister Akaluka (Eve), whose inadvertent acceptance of a gift sparks peril. Expect frontier statecraft, tense ceremonies, and a fragile balance between diplomacy and violence. The beginning of the story introduces a Choctaw embassy—accompanied by Laroche—to Tellico, where elaborate Cherokee rites, dances, and a bear-hunt pantomime mark their reception. Laroche’s true task is to solve a supply problem: the impassable shoals on the Cherokee River; when he cannot, he proposes “barrier towns” and an overland portage to make French trade and munitions flow. A public sensation erupts when Akaluka dives into the river to save a drifting scarf from the embassy cargo, which Push-koosh treats as acceptance of his suit under Cherokee custom. Laroche urges delaying any marriage for political prudence; Push-koosh, consumed by jealousy, coldly declares he would kill a Cherokee wife if the tribes become enemies. Warned by Laroche, Moy Toy and the chiefs return the scarf, but Push-koosh, affronted, destroys the French powder, raises the war-brand, and his party massacres unsuspecting Tellico youths before fleeing. The opening closes with Laroche abandoned and under guard in Tellico, facing the wrath of a grieving, enraged town. (This is an automatically generated summary.) https://archive.org/details/spectreofpower00cradiala 20201205082155craddock 1903 us Reading ease score: 61.8 (8th & 9th grade). Neither easy nor difficult to read. en Adventure stories Frontier and pioneer life -- Fiction United States -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction Indians of North America -- History -- Fiction PS Text Category: Historical Novels Category: American Literature 870734 2025-07-30T06:43:12.837934 text/html 845225 2025-05-17T07:33:22 text/html 810665 2025-07-30T06:43:23.332911 application/epub+zip 806615 2025-07-30T06:43:14.909026 application/epub+zip 606855 2025-07-30T06:43:13.861941 application/epub+zip 1649022 2025-07-30T06:43:30.093859 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 1598351 2025-07-30T06:43:22.286939 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 820382 2025-07-30T06:43:11.801923 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 800493 2025-05-17T07:33:22 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 14753 2025-07-30T06:43:30.575819 application/rdf+xml 15233 2025-07-30T06:43:14.146954 image/jpeg 2195 2025-07-30T06:43:14.003008 image/jpeg 1193547 2025-07-30T06:43:12.920906 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia