Beadle's Dime Library No. 151

# The Freebooters: A Story of the Texan War

This serialized adventure novel by Gustave Aimard, published in Beadle's Dime Library (September 14, 1881), chronicles events during the Texan War. The narrative follows Fray Antonio, a friar abandoned by a companion during an attack by Native Americans. Lost and desperate in the forest at nightfall, Antonio climbs a mahogany tree seeking refuge from wild beasts, only to be seized by an unseen creature and lose consciousness. He awakens beside an Apache encampment where approximately twenty warriors offer him food and rest with unusual courtesy. Their chief, Blue-fox—a Snake Pawnee adopted by the Apaches—reveals he seeks a pale-faced hunter friend from his childhood. Blue-fox conducts formal negotiations with the monk, using their conversation to gather intelligence, suggesting the narrative employs diplomatic intrigue alongside frontier action.