The Underground Railroad was the only avenue of hope for fugitive slaves who followed the star of freedom north to Canada in the years prior to the Civil War. High rewards offered for the return of human chattel inspired a relentless vigil on the part of unscrupulous deputies, making the operation of the Railroad a perilous venture for the Abolitionists.
By Night the Strangers tells the thrilling story of Luke Hanley who unwittingly finds himself on the station of that Railroad and joins the valiant group of "Right People" in the lumber country of Pennsylvania. In the pattern of the misfortunes that plague him, Hanley sees the powerful hand of John Caines, county boss and lumber king, whose daughter nevertheless sacrifices her reputation to save Luke, arousing the dangerous jealousy of the fiery and embittered Hester. When the harassed hero is finally brought to trial for his life, the great Thaddeus Stevens comes to his defense; but his eloquence cannot save Hanley's lumber camp from the flames of angry slave hunters after he gives sanctuary to John Brown's son, following the raid on Harper's Ferry.
Readers of By Night the Strangers will find this the most exciting of the books by Herbert Stover who has established himself as an accomplished dramatist of history through such previous works as Song of the Susquehanna, Men in Buckskin, Powder Mission, Copperhead Moon, and The Eagle and the Wind.
