Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 755

# Reckless Roy's Regulators

"Reckless Roy's Regulators" by Joan W. Osbon follows an immigrant wagon train led by Jonas Bradlaw across the Dakota frontier. The train is deliberately misdirected by their hired guide, Hackamore Hank, who has conspired with the outlaw Red Panther to lure them into an ambush and steal a mysterious steel casket. A young ranger called Gold-Dust Dan intercepts Bradlaw, reveals the conspiracy with evidence—including a stolen compass used to throw off their navigation—and warns him to camp at a defensible oak tree rather than proceed to the timber where the ambush awaits. When Hackamore returns after apparently killing a pursuing Native American scout, Bradlaw confronts him at gunpoint. Though Hackamore claims he killed the scout to prevent interference, Bradlaw orders his men to seize, bind, and gag the guide. Gold-Dust Dan departs to fetch reinforcements from rangers camped nearby.