This story is similar to The Prisoner of Zenda! It includes—the young king, the usurping uncle and his evil henchman, the beautiful princess, the loyal retainer and the unwilling imposter. This tale of confused identities and look-a-like characters was initially published in All-Story Weekly as "The Mad King" in March of 1914. The sequel was "Barney Custer of Beatrice" which appeared in Blue Book Magazine in August the following year. The two parts of this story was collected and published as a first edition by A. C. McClurg in 1926 with an immediate Gossett & Dunlap reprint.