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The Night Wind #1
Alias: The Night Wind
The text and interior illustrations of this novel were reproduced from the 1913 bound edition of Alias "The Night Wind" published by G. W. Dillingham Company, New York, through The Frank A. Munsey Co., 1913. Other than correcting for obvious, unintentional grammatical or typographical errors, this reproduction remains true to the letter and spirit of the 1913 G. W. Dillingham bound text. The cover is from the original pulp magazine appearance in "Cavalier."
247 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1913
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March 16, 2021
For some reason he is almost always referred to by the full title, yet I should think one might just as easily have left off the “alias” portion most of the time. This title being the moniker hung on the wrongfully accused Bingham Harvard by a New York police for that feverishly dogs his every step. They would take him, yet he vanishes as swiftly as The Night Wind... also, he beats up everybody who gets near him. He has been accused of stealing from the bank where he worked and he will not submit to arrest.
This second series by longtime Nick Carter writer Frederick Van Rensselaer Dey is not exactly a detective story, although it does include a detective, as a villain. Our fugitive hero has nothing in common with the detective Nick Carter as he never bothers to go in disguise and has a sharp temper which results in many displays of superior strength. The detective, Rodney Rushton (sometimes written as “Rush-ton”), is an out-and-out villain, sleazy, vengeful, and actually the only open racist in the book. No, no mystery is solved here, for we know the major players at the outset, so Harvard has only to run and sometimes break policemen's bones, and juggle an uncertain romance while trying not to bring trouble to his friends.
“Alias the Night Wind” is odd, one might also view it as juvenile in how bare bones it appears, yet it is a springboard for a series (there are at least 3 more entries that I know of), so there are some elements dangled that may bare fruit in sequels. We know that Bingham Harvard was orphaned and raised by Mr. Chester, the bank president, so his origin may yet be explored. We know that Katherine Maxwell joined the police mysteriously and has a driver, Jules, who is her well kept secret, and that they may be part of a kind of underground pipeline for hiding fugitives. We have no idea what Katherine's real name is or if she is working for somebody else, as she works against the police more than for them in this story. We know that Harvard's friend, Thomas Clancy, hires a private detective agency to get any dirt it can on detective Rodney Rushton and his superior, as well as on Mr. Chester, yet we still do not know what the results were.
Basically, our hero is innocent, and the police stick with the frame that Rushton constructed and at this point don't care whether Harvard is innocent or guilty of the original charge since he's put every cop he met in the hospital. All of this may stem from ulterior motive, from Rushton or elsewhere, but I guess that's another story.
Those who are not accustomed to reading dime novels may not be able to stand the repetitive aspects of the story (Dey was a serial writer who routinely wrote 33,000 words or a more a week), and the modern reader may be negatively distracted by the passages featuring the black driver, Jules, and reference to his race.
The thing I found most distracting was that very little trickery was employed by our hero. He's known to all the police forces by sight, his photograph is circulated, yet he doesn't bother with so much as a false mustache to obscure his features. The police rarely use guns on him, and when they do we get some nice chase scenes, involving street cars and ferries, yet you can't get past the idea that he could have made it easier on himself.
This actually reminded me a bit of “The Spider” by Norvel W. Page, which also has a hero who is constantly dogged by the enemy to the point where action take a front seat to mystery. Yet this brings up the other point: Harvard doesn't kill anybody, and nobody dies besides. This might just be because the villains are the police, although this also seems to be a world where The Night Wind is the only criminal.
“Alias the Night Wind” is a strange one, if often engaging and exciting. It is mostly focused on the relationship with the mysterious Katherine Maxwell, which is strong enough for this kind of writing. I prefer Dey's Nick Carter stories, but I will continue with this series when I get the chance.
This second series by longtime Nick Carter writer Frederick Van Rensselaer Dey is not exactly a detective story, although it does include a detective, as a villain. Our fugitive hero has nothing in common with the detective Nick Carter as he never bothers to go in disguise and has a sharp temper which results in many displays of superior strength. The detective, Rodney Rushton (sometimes written as “Rush-ton”), is an out-and-out villain, sleazy, vengeful, and actually the only open racist in the book. No, no mystery is solved here, for we know the major players at the outset, so Harvard has only to run and sometimes break policemen's bones, and juggle an uncertain romance while trying not to bring trouble to his friends.
“Alias the Night Wind” is odd, one might also view it as juvenile in how bare bones it appears, yet it is a springboard for a series (there are at least 3 more entries that I know of), so there are some elements dangled that may bare fruit in sequels. We know that Bingham Harvard was orphaned and raised by Mr. Chester, the bank president, so his origin may yet be explored. We know that Katherine Maxwell joined the police mysteriously and has a driver, Jules, who is her well kept secret, and that they may be part of a kind of underground pipeline for hiding fugitives. We have no idea what Katherine's real name is or if she is working for somebody else, as she works against the police more than for them in this story. We know that Harvard's friend, Thomas Clancy, hires a private detective agency to get any dirt it can on detective Rodney Rushton and his superior, as well as on Mr. Chester, yet we still do not know what the results were.
Basically, our hero is innocent, and the police stick with the frame that Rushton constructed and at this point don't care whether Harvard is innocent or guilty of the original charge since he's put every cop he met in the hospital. All of this may stem from ulterior motive, from Rushton or elsewhere, but I guess that's another story.
Those who are not accustomed to reading dime novels may not be able to stand the repetitive aspects of the story (Dey was a serial writer who routinely wrote 33,000 words or a more a week), and the modern reader may be negatively distracted by the passages featuring the black driver, Jules, and reference to his race.
The thing I found most distracting was that very little trickery was employed by our hero. He's known to all the police forces by sight, his photograph is circulated, yet he doesn't bother with so much as a false mustache to obscure his features. The police rarely use guns on him, and when they do we get some nice chase scenes, involving street cars and ferries, yet you can't get past the idea that he could have made it easier on himself.
This actually reminded me a bit of “The Spider” by Norvel W. Page, which also has a hero who is constantly dogged by the enemy to the point where action take a front seat to mystery. Yet this brings up the other point: Harvard doesn't kill anybody, and nobody dies besides. This might just be because the villains are the police, although this also seems to be a world where The Night Wind is the only criminal.
“Alias the Night Wind” is a strange one, if often engaging and exciting. It is mostly focused on the relationship with the mysterious Katherine Maxwell, which is strong enough for this kind of writing. I prefer Dey's Nick Carter stories, but I will continue with this series when I get the chance.
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