Robert E. Howard 
Red Shadows (Illustrated) 

First published in Weird Tales, August 1928, alternatively titled ’Solomon Kane’. This was the first Solomon Kane story ever published. In France, Kane finds a girl attacked by a gang of brigands led by a villain known as Le Loup. As she dies in his arms, Kane determines to avenge her death, and the trail leads from France to Africa, ending with Kane’s first meeting with N’Longa.