Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 519

# Five in One: A Romance of Bowlder Bar

William G. Patten's serial adventure concerns two young travelers bound for the mining camp of Bowlder Bar: Howard Thorne, a college graduate joining his father (a mine-owner), and Sylva Blair, traveling to reunite with her father. During their stagecoach journey through dangerous mountain terrain, masked road-agents ambush them. Thorne fires at one outlaw, but a mysterious red-vested horseman—calling himself Red Robin—intervenes spectacularly, shooting multiple attackers from his black stallion while descending a precipice. After the outlaws flee, Red Robin retrieves the dead driver's reins by leaping onto the careening stage and brings it safely to rest near a narrow cliff. He refuses thanks curtly. The narrative shifts to Bowlder Bar itself: a booming seventy-five-person mining strike featuring the Clarion Hotel, operated by quick-draw expert Cyrus Gaines. The barkeeper, Simeon Small—a deceptively capable dandy—defeats bully Big Burgman. The camp contains saloons, gambling operations, and rough establishments. The story's opening action emphasizes western frontier danger and mysterious heroism.