'The Half-Breed: A Tale of the Western Frontier' Summary

The story opens with Boddo, who is an ill-respected, physically-deformed and unattractive man of white and Native American parentage, as he travels to tell Father Luke about a wedding that is set to take place between the blacksmith Peter Brown and his intended. On the day of the wedding, Master Caleb leaves, only to witness the Native American Arrow-Tip coming over the hill. A few days later, some items are stolen from Mr. Thorne. Arrow-Tip is automatically assumed to be the thief despite no evidence to suggest this. Shortly after, Arrow-Tip uncovers the thief to be none other than the town hunchback, Boddo.

Meanwhile, Peter's bride has come to befriend Father Luke, who has been spending more time with the villagers, and manages to convince him to tell her of the events that brought him to his current situation. He tells her of his upbringing in Ireland and of his adventures to America. Upon arriving to America, he meets a Native American woman with whom he fathers a child, Boddo, who is unaware of this. His story is interrupted by some disturbing news of an event that took place during a hunting party. While hunting, two of the men in the party chose to create a raft. As they reach their destination, they hear Peter Brown and Arrow-Tip quarreling. Upon reaching shore, they discover the blacksmith unconscious next to a silent Arrow-Tip. He refuses to answer any questions, as he knows that it would serve no good. The two men throw a blanket over Peter and take Arrow-Tip back to the village to announce Peter's death and Arrow-Tip's crime. They do not closely examine the blacksmith and as such, do not discover that he is still alive.

Upon waking up, Peter quickly thinks of the argument between him and Arrow-Tip, deeming himself to be in the wrong. He's discovered by Boddo, who then takes him to Father Luke's cave, the safest available shelter. While fetching water for Peter, Boddo meets Father Luke who tells him that Arrow-Tip has been accused of Peter's murder. When Peter learns of Arrow-Tip's situation, he suggests sending Boddo to alert the villagers that he is alive because he is still too weak to make the journey himself. While traveling to the village, Boddo decides to play with the fate of Arrow-Tip's life for exposing his indiscretions earlier in the story. He and the villagers travel to the place of the purported murder and discover that Peter is gone, causing them to assume that Deer, Arrow-Tip's brother, stole the body away in an attempt to acquit Arrow-Tip.

When they return home the townsmen are determined of Arrow-Tip's guilt and decide to enact vengeance. Arrow-Tip manages to convince the men to let him tell his story in front of the entire village, upon which point he says that the quarrel was over a wager over who would – or wouldn't – catch any game, with some of their possessions as the prize. During the conversation Peter lost his temper and upon seeing Arrow-Tip try to take the weapon he had wagered, the two men began to scuffle. Arrow-Tip is convinced that he did indeed kill Peter, as are the townsmen. Boddo is the only person who can backup the knows the truth and despite being present, doesn't come forward. As a result, Arrow-Tip is sentenced to die the following morning via hanging. That following morning the townspeople are glib and a comparison is made to the celebration at Peter's wedding. Deer is allowed to visit his brother. During their meeting Arrow-Tip tells him that he's determined to approach his impending death stoically and that his sentence would have been the same with their own people.

While this is taking place, two schoolchildren discover Peter Brown sunning himself along the riverbank near Father Luke's home. They quickly rush to Master Caleb who, along with Quincy, realize that Boddo has lied about discovering Peter dead. They travel to Father Luke's cave and discover that Peter is alive. They quickly travel to tell the others that Peter is alive, but are too late and arrive just after Arrow-Tip's hanging. Attempts to cut him down and revive him are unsuccessful. Three days after Arrow-Tip's death Father Luke and Deer leave the town. Whitman states that years into the future an aged friar will be buried while hundreds of miles away an Indian leader leads his tribe further west in an attempt to avoid being bothered by the white man. The fate of Boddo is unknown, only that he fled the town and is believed to be either dead or living a similar miserable existence in another place. Meanwhile, Master Caleb has become the leader of an incorporated academy while Quincy is well respected and will likely be nominated for political office. One of his best admirers is Peter Brown, who has survived and fathered multiple children.