A Waif of the Plains by Bret Harte, Fiction, Classics, Westerns, Historical: From the First 10 Years of 32 Poems Magazine

Young Clarence and his friend Susie find for themselves a rough trail to follow -- separated from their California-bound wagon train and lost on the Great Plains . . . and strangely befriended by one of the most feared roughhouse outlaws of the Plains, the notorious Flynn

Misadventure and violence mix in Bret Harte's classic novel of the Westward Trail.

Bret Harte was an American author and poet, best remembered for his accounts of pioneering life in California. Harte moved to California in 1853, and worked there in a number of capacities -- as a miner, a teacher, a messenger, and a journalist. His story, "The Luck of Roaring Camp," appearing in The Overland Monthly magazine, propelled Harte to nationwide fame.