"Emerson Rodman" was one of Edward S. Ellis' pseudonyms. As mentioned under his name, Ellis had stopped writing for Beadle & Co. late in 1865, and for some years thereafter wrote exclusively for Irwin P. Beadle. An examination of the title list of Irwin's American Novels shows that many of the tales were by Ellis, either under his own name or under pseudonyms. The name "Emerson Rodman" appears here for the first time among Beadle publications, although it had been used earlier in 1865 in the New York Weekly, where "Ethan Spike" and "The Mad Captain; or, The Scouts of the Wilderness" were published. Now Ellis was listed as among the contributors to this periodical for 1865, yet his own name was not attached to any story, but "Emerson Rodman" was. Two novels, several times reprinted under different titles, were issued by Beadle with that name given as the author. The first was entitled "The Wood Ranger" and appeared in 1865 as No. 2 of Irwin's American Novels. The other, "Mad Anthony's Scouts; or, The Rangers of Kentucky," also may have appeared originally in that series, probably as No. 14, "The Kentucky Rangers," in 1866, but unfortunately I have never seen this number and could not check the author or the story. It appeared, however, as No. 49 of Starr's American Novels in 1870, a series in which there were numerous reprints of Irwin's American Novels. If "Mad Anthony's Scouts" is compared with "The River Rifles," which originally appeared as by "Billex Muller" in Starr's American Novels, no. 34 and later as a reprint in Boy's Library (octavo edition), no. 113 as by J. F. C. Adams, it will be seen that while the stories as a whole are different, entire pages of the two are identical. Since both "Billex Muller" and "J. F. C. Adams" were pen names of Edward S. Ellis, it is clear that "Emerson Rodman" also must have been one of his, for no one other than the original author would have dared repeat entire chapters from another book issued by the same publishers less than a year before. It was certainly a slip on the part of the editor to have allowed reprints of the two to appear in the octavo Boy's Library only three weeks apart, namely, as Nos. 113 and 116.

Here is a short quotation from "Billex Muller's" "The River Rifles," Chapter IV, compared with the slight changes (shown in parentheses) in "Emerson Rodman's" "Mad Anthony's Scouts." There are pages that are practically identical, except for changes in the names of the characters, in Chapters IV to VII.

He saw his rifle lying upon (on) the beach, its ornamented stock and barrel shining in the moonlight. After carefully surveying every portion of the island that came under his observation, he detected no sign of danger (dangers); and was about to let himself float forward again, when the lifted head of a savage (the Shawanoe) rose above the gunwale, and remained in view for fully a minute.

As the moon shone fully upon the Indian (savage), he (Waring) distinguished his (the) features plainly. He concluded at once that there were several others on (upon) the flatboat, and all waiting for his return. The savage gazed carefully about (around) him, and descrying nothing, his head disappeared from view.

"Ah, my fine fellow," thought Smith (Waring), as he noiselessly" . . . and so on and so on.

For novels listed under the name "Emerson Rodman" see Ellis.