Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 845

Deadwood Dick, Jr.'s High Horse

This serial by Edward L. Wheeler, author of the Deadwood Dick novels, opens in the mining camp of Hard Knocks with the discovery of a mysterious tightrope strung between two inaccessible peaks. A Devil-costumed acrobat performs a spectacular wire-walking feat, dropping a red banner reading "Sons of Belial, Tremble! I have come to claim my own. Satan." The town officials—Mayor Bob Smith, saloon owner Hank Hornblower, and mine manager Major John King—offer increasing rewards to retrieve the banner and capture the performer, though the peaks prove unreachable. Separately, two rival miners, gambler Everett Wilson and Palmer Connor (superintendent of the Sparkler Mine), have been found stabbed to death in identical positions, suggesting a mysterious third killer rather than mutual combat or suicide. Both men had competed for the attention of "Dashing Diantha," a female sport and gamester. The twin mysteries perplex the camp's citizens.