Rough Rider Weekly

King of the Wild West on Vanishing Island, or Stella Solves an Enigma By Ned Taylor

This serial concerns Ted Strong (the "King of the Wild West") and his companions, who are recruited by Jack Manton to manage the troubled Santa Ysabel Ranch in California. Manton had fled the position after cattle began vanishing in entire herds without explanation—not stolen by rustlers, but seemingly vanished. The ranch, a vast Spanish land grant straddling California and Lower California, is bounded by mountains, ocean, and guarded borders, making cattle disappearance impossible to explain rationally. Manton's superstitious Mexican and Chilean vaquero workers attributed the losses to supernatural causes. Ted accepts the job on behalf of his group. The narrative follows their journey westward, interrupted when the spirited Stella Fosdick and her Aunt Graham meet them in Cheyenne to join the expedition to California. The group arrives in San Diego, ready to investigate the ranch's mystery.