Hulbert Footner 
The Dark Ships [EPUB ebook] 

Neill didn’t hold with his girl Janet running around with Prescott Fanning. He reckoned Fanning wasn’t straight and said so, but you know what girls are. . . . So Neill had to prove his words, and in doing so found trouble soon enough. Janet went off with Fanning, and the next time Neill saw her he found her in a faint with blood on her cheek, a revolver by her side, and Fanning dead at her feet. After that it was a question of the fox hunting with the hounds, and there’s suspense and excitement at every turn.