7 h 59 minAudiobook15 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 7 h 59 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
In Colorado’s mining country, a fortune can hide in a lunch pail—and honor can be harder to hold than gold.
The Highgrader by William MacLeod Raine takes you into the mining West of Colorado, where rich rock promises sudden wealth. Tunnels, boarding houses and dusty streets surround a struggle over who has the right to carry that wealth away. The title names the crime at its heart: stealing valuable ore from the mine itself.
Raine brings adventure and romance together in hard country, where courage, loyalty and promises matter. His direct style keeps the story moving, while questions of right and wrong give the action its weight. In this rough frontier world, honor means more than bold words: it means facing danger and treating the weak fairly.
What you’ll discover
- Fortunes beneath the rock Enter a mining world where a rich vein can build a camp or leave it fading.
- The theft called highgrading Discover how the richest pieces of ore can disappear inside a boot or lunch pail.
- A code worth keeping Explore a frontier code that puts courage, loyalty and fair treatment ahead of easy gain.
- Romance in rough country Find a love story set against the hard edges of the Colorado mining frontier.
- A story with momentum Follow Raine’s short, lively scenes and plainspoken style into a Western built for turning pages.
Who will love it
You will enjoy this if you love Western adventure, romances where two worlds collide, spirited heroines, and stories about what is fair between rich owners and the men who dig.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A childhood kiss begins the bond
- Jack hides a wounded family history
- Attraction crosses the lines of class
- A public triumph turns into suspicion
- Friendship asks for trust before certainty
- The storm reveals courage and desire
- Stolen ore divides love and loyalty
- Justice and law pull people apart
- Love becomes a choice of principles
Who’s who
- Moya DwightA spirited young Irishwoman in an English party who wants real life and trusts her own heart more than her chaperone's rules.
- Jack KilmenyA lean, bold Colorado miner and rider, born into a British family, who lives by his own code and hides his business.
- Joyce SeldonA dazzling beauty who knows she must marry money and plays at hearts while she decides.
- Captain Ned KilmenyJack's English cousin, a brave and honest soldier who has loved Moya for years and waits for her answer.
- India KilmenyNed's quick-witted sister, who welcomes her American cousin and stands by him when others hold back.
- Dobyans VerinderA rich, vain English owner of Goldbanks mines who wants a bride and a victory over Jack.
- Lord FarquharMoya's amused guardian, a sportsman who likes rebels and still guards the rules of his world.
- ColterJack's big, dry-voiced friend from the camp, loyal to the bone and fierce when a friend is missing.
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The Highgrader
by William MacLeod Raine · 1915
A fisherman in a Colorado camp is wanted for robbery, and an English girl who trusts him must face her doubts.
Medium level2–5 hours to read16 languages
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“The West is a state of mind.”
In short
Would you sell stars to the sky? A four-year-old girl does, on the deck of an ocean liner, in the opening pages of The Highgrader.
The Highgrader at a glance
- Reading time
- About 4 h 25 min3 h 30 min fast, 5 h 20 min slow
- Length
- 63,500 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1915by William MacLeod Raine
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Two children meet on an ocean liner
The book opens on the deck of the Victorian, a ship steaming toward the St. Lawrence. A dark, elfin girl of four named Moya is selling stars cut from red tissue paper. Her governess is searching for the runaway, and the other passengers quietly plot to protect her.
A lady hides her under a steamer rug. Later she slips into the chair beside an eight-year-old American boy named Jack, who lives on a ranch in Colorado. She tells him she is an Irish orphan with a Shetland pony. He boasts that he would kick a governess on the shins, and she admires him enormously.
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Details
- First published
- 1915
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 5 h 10 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Raine, William MacLeod. The Highgrader. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-highgrader.
Raine, W. M. (2026). The highgrader. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-highgrader (Original work published 1915)
Raine, William MacLeod. The Highgrader. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-highgrader.
@book{raine2026highgrader,
author = {Raine, William MacLeod},
title = {The Highgrader},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-highgrader},
note = {First published 1915}
}
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What is The Highgrader about?
A group of English visitors meets Jack Kilmeny, a Colorado miner who may be an outlaw. The story follows his bond with Moya Dwight, a robbery charge, a blizzard rescue, and a fight over stolen mine ore.
What does highgrader mean in the book?
A highgrader is a miner who steals rich ore from the mine where he works, or a man who buys such ore from others. The novel shows the practice as a sign of the war between mine owners and workers.
Who are the main characters in The Highgrader?
Jack Kilmeny is a Colorado miner, and Moya Dwight is a spirited Irishwoman. Joyce Seldon is a beauty, Captain Ned Kilmeny is Jack's cousin, and Dobyans Verinder is a rich mine owner. Colter is Jack's loyal friend.
The author
William MacLeod Raine
1871–1954 · American Western novelist
William MacLeod Raine (1871–1954) was an American novelist born in London, England. He moved to the United States in childhood and later lived in Denver, Colorado. He wrote Western and adventure novels in the first half of the twentieth century. His books include The Highgrader and Oh, You Tex!
“The West is a state of mind.”
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