Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 258

This weekly pulp magazine from July 4, 1882, contains the first installment of "Sierra Sam's Seven; or, The Stolen Bride" by Edward L. Wheeler, author of the Deadwood Dick series. The story introduces Sierra Sam, a renowned detective operating in the Sierra Nevadas, who arrives in Rough Ranch, Arizona with his newly wed bride Stella. They accept hospitality from the wealthy Don Ramon de Ramirz at his mansion. While Sam visits the local Casino with the Don, where he wins a thousand dollars at three-card monte against a cheating gambler named Dandy Dell, he is summoned with shocking news: Stella has vanished from the mansion. The Don's daughter Inez, who was attending Stella, reports she disappeared while alone in an upstairs chamber. Sam's investigation begins as he questions whether she truly left the building unobserved.