Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 917

# Flash Lightning, the Mountain Mascot

This 1895 Beadle and Adams weekly serial, "Flash Lightning, the Mountain Mascot; or, Jerry Jacobs' Doom" by Charles Morris, is a mining-region romance set in Colorado. Old Dug-Out, a weathered prospector, ponders Flash's mysterious origins—rescued as an infant from an Indian attack that killed his parents—while contemplating documents that might reveal the boy's true identity. Flash, now nearly twenty-one, is the Rockies' celebrated youth. The plot introduces rival suitors: Jerry Jacobs, a rogue, attempts to kiss the spirited "Ragged Bess," prompting Flash's arrival and swift retaliation, dunking Jacobs in a pond. Bess, a barefoot girl raised by Aunt Molly, reciprocates Flash's interest. A sinister newcomer, Mr. Griscom, arrives seeking information about a boy matching Flash's description, recruiting the vengeful Jacobs as an accomplice. Griscom peers through windows at Dug-Out's mysterious documents, intent on acquiring them before they can be hidden.