Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 626

This issue of Champion Pards (No. 626, July 28, 1889) contains the Western serial "The Lucifer of Silver Bar: A Romance of Ranch 29" by T. C. Harbaugh. The story follows Mute Merle, a deaf mine-owner in Cinnabar, Arizona, and his hired hand Mosco. When widow Carmen Lanca arrives desperately seeking help, she reveals that masked outlaw Mesquite Marlo and his gang kidnapped her young daughter Carmen during a nocturnal raid on Ranch 29, targeting the child specifically for reasons tied to past conflicts with her late husband. Mute Merle accepts the rescue mission, enlisting his friend Captain Poncho, a wealthy Cinnabar citizen. The narrative shifts to two weeks later, following the pair across the Arizona desert as they pursue Marlo's elusive trail, heading toward Silver Bar where rumors suggest the outlaw may be hiding. The OCR becomes increasingly garbled toward the conclusion.