Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 202

"Cactus Jack, the Giant Guide: The Masked Robbers of Black Bend" by Captain Mark Wilton. Two hardened bordermen—young giant Cactus Jack (over six feet tall, a veteran scout and guide) and grizzled Zeke Bozeman—flee Apache pursuers across New Mexico desert with dwindling ammunition. After escaping, they divert toward Fort Black rather than Santa Fe. Camping at the Barranca de Muerte (Barranca of Death), a natural canyon where soldiers were once massacred by Apaches, they discover three white men at a nearby pool. One stranger protests against "such work," claiming it exceeds his character, and departs. The remaining two engage in earnest discussion over what appears to be a dark bundle on the ground, suggesting criminal activity. The narrative combines frontier action, character development, and mystery elements typical of 1880s adventure fiction.