The Outcasts

by Daniel P. Mannix

Eleven year old Dana Martin faces relentless ridicule by a new group of students at his school. When the taunting comes to blows, Dana must defend himself. Fed up with the fights and the change in their neighborhood, Dana's parents have been searching for a country home they can afford. So when the opportunity comes to move to the huntsman's residence on an old estate, the family eagerly leaves the city.

Dana is immediately entranced by the old house, the kennels for dogs and stalls for horses, and, most of all, the great trees and acres of woods and fields waiting to be explored. Late one afternoon Dana is trying to find his way home when he is surprised by a stranger ― a stranger with lush black fur and two broad white stripes running down his back. As the the small animal stares at Dana with black-button eyes, he raises his bushy tail and beats a little tattoo on the ground with his forefeet. Dana hasn't a clue what to do and as he steps toward the harmless, kitten-like creature, he is summarily and thoroughly, skunked! In spite of their malodorous introduction, Dana later rescues the skunk from a leg-hold trap and a rapport between the two outcasts is forged.

Their story bears witness to the power of friendship ― a bond that has the capacity to heal and to reveal the hidden potential inherent in each.

78 pages, ebook

First published January 1, 1966

About the author

Daniel Pratt Mannix IV was best known as an American author and journalist. His life was remarkably different from other writers of his generation. His career included times as a side show performer, magician, trainer of eagles and film maker.

The Grest Zadma was a stage name Mannix used as a magician. He also entertained as a sword swallower and fire eater in a traveling carnival sideshow. Magazine articles about these experiences, co-written with his wife, became very popular in 1944 and 1945.

As an author Mannix covered a wide variety of subject matter. His more than 25 books ranged from fictional animal stories for children, the natural history of animals, and adventurous accounts about hunting big game to sensational adult non-fiction topics such as a biography of the occultist Aleister Crowley, sympathetic accounts of carnival performers and sideshow freaks, and works describing, among other things, the Hellfire Club, the Atlantic slave trade, the history of torture, and the Roman games. His output of essays and articles was extensive.