The Mountain Devil; or, Yellow Jack, the Outlaw Captain

This 1884 Beadle and Adams weekly publication presents "The Mountain Devil; Yellow Jack, the Outlaw Captain" by Harry Hazard. The opening serial installment, "A Blow in the Dark," follows an emigrant wagon-train of nearly one hundred souls headed to California during the 1849 gold rush, led by Caleb Mitchell. Mrs. Mitchell dies from a rifle wound sustained days earlier, halting the group's progress. After her burial, Paley Duplin confides to companions Burr Wythe and Jack Tyrrel that he has discovered a gold placer—a pocket of pure nuggets—in a remote mountain valley while hunting. Though wealthy from the find, Duplin expresses foreboding, claiming to have experienced a disturbing vision of his mother's spirit during his discovery. The narrative establishes tensions between the young men and Nate Upshur, a hostile camp member.