Cupid from Bear Creek
Introduction
“Cupid from Bear Creek” is a raucous and energetic short story in the Breckinridge Elkins cycle, a tale of romantic rivalry, outlaw treachery, and unintended mayhem. Originally written under the title The Peaceful Pilgrim, it was revised significantly before its appearance in the August 1935 issue of Action Stories. The version in A Gent from Bear Creek as Chapter 9 maintains the core elements but includes further polish and integration into the novel’s episodic structure. This summary is based on the short story version, “Cupid from Bear Creek.”
Detailed summary: spoilers
Breckinridge Elkins, returning home from the Yavapai country, stops in Teton Gulch—a mining camp riddled with outlaws—on his way back to Bear Creek. He is worried someone might be courting Dolly Rixby in his absence. At the Yaller Dawg Saloon, the barkeep recognizes him and informs him that his rival for Dolly’s affections, Blink Wiltshaw, is upstairs.
Elkins finds Blink in a paranoid state, hiding out with bags of gold dust from a rich strike. Blink fears Rattlesnake Harrison, the local outlaw leader, will murder him for his gold. He asks Breckinridge to secretly carry the gold out of the gulch via the old Indian trail and meet the stagecoach at Hell-Wind Pass.
Blink also asks Breck to bring back Brother Rembrandt Brockton, his fiancée’s uncle and a circuit-riding preacher, to perform the wedding. Although reluctant at first, Elkins agrees after realizing that getting Blink married to someone in Teton Gulch would eliminate him as a rival for Dolly. He saddles up his formidable horse, Cap’n Kidd, but is confronted by a man named Jake Roman, who falsely accuses Breck of horse theft—a common outlaw trick.
Breckinridge allows Jake to try and claim the horse. Cap’n Kidd violently dispatches him, reinforcing Breck’s ownership. Suspicious that Harrison’s men are already targeting him, Breck leaves with the gold and rides toward Hell-Wind Pass.
There, he meets a man claiming to be Brother Rembrandt. As Breck prepares to saddle his horse, he notices Jake Roman aiming a rifle at him. Breck kills him in a shootout, realizing it’s a setup: the supposed preacher is Harrison in disguise, trying to trick him out of the gold.
To protect the impostor/preacher, Breck scoops him up and flees on Cap’n Kidd, dodging gunfire and heading toward a log bridge across a deep canyon. With bullets flying, they ride across the narrow log at full speed, narrowly escaping the pursuing outlaws. On the other side, Breck tricks the gang into following and then pushes the log off the rim, sending the outlaws plunging into the river below.
But "Brother Rembrandt" revives and attacks Breckinridge in a frenzy, revealing his true identity as Rattlesnake Harrison. After subduing and tying up Harrison, Breck resumes his mission and returns to Teton Gulch with the prisoner in tow. To his shock, he finds the real Brother Rembrandt already there—having arrived by stage from War Paint—with his niece, who turns out to be Dolly Rixby.
Blink has already married her. Breckinridge is stunned. Blink had tricked him by lying about the preacher's location and identity of the bride, sending him on a wild and dangerous mission to remove him from the scene.
As Breckinridge processes the betrayal, he tries to take it like a gentleman and shake hands. However, the sheer strength of his emotional state leads to him accidentally breaking Blink’s arm during the handshake, which Dolly responds to by smashing a cuspidor over his head.
Textual states
Shown in a practical developmental order where possible: synopsis/outline, numbered drafts, submission states, then published or posthumous states. This display order does not itself assert exact chronology or textual authority.
Characters in this Work
Counts are across exact Textual Versions currently represented. They are not assumed exhaustive until the underlying texts have been analyzed.
Publication appearances
Action Stories August 1935Fiction House, IncAugust 1935↗
A Gent from Bear Creek (1937)Herbert Jenkins1937↗
Mayhem on Bear CreekDonald M. GrantJuly/August 1979↗
Heroes of Bear CreekAceNovember 1983↗
The Complete Action StoriesHermanthis PressNovember 2001↗
The Complete Action StoriesWildside PressNovember 2003 (Hardcover) | January 2005 (Trade paperback)↗
The Riot at Bucksnort and Other Western TalesUniversity of Nebraska Press - Bison BooksApril 2005↗
The Robert E. Howard Reader Volume OneWildshade Books2007↗
A Gent from Bear Creek and Other WesternsHalcyon Press, Ltd.January 2010↗
The Robert E. Howard Omnibus: 99 Collected StoriesHalcyon Press, Ltd.May 2010↗
Collected Western Stories of Robert E. HowardHalcyon Press, Ltd.October 2010↗
The Misadventures of Breckinridge ElkinsNuelow GamesAugust 2012↗
A Gent from Bear Creek (2015)Fiction House Press2015↗
The Adventures of Breckinridge Elkins Volume 1REH Foundation PressAugust 2016↗
The Robert E. Howard Foundation Newsletter v15 #1Robert E. Howard FoundationWinter 2020/21 (mailed february 19th 2021)↗
The Adventures of Breckinridge Elkins Volume 1 UEREH Foundation PressJanuary 2026↗#4187