Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 283

# Catalog Note

"Sleek Sam, the Devil of the Mines; or, The Sons of the Fiery Cross" by Joseph E. Badger, Jr., serialized in this dime novel (#283, March 26, 1884). The story opens with a dramatic Western action sequence: a lone horseman traveling by moonlight is ambushed and beaten by masked robbers until two rescuers arrive—a mounted man named Oswald and an eccentric elderly prospector calling himself Hector Ajax. The attack victim, Talfourd, recognizes Oswald. Ajax, despite claiming cowardice and blindness when frightened, has fired upon the assailants with surprising effectiveness. The trio interrogates one another amid confusion and mutual suspicion before discovering at least one dead robber nearby. Talfourd vows vengeance against the gang. Additional riders approach as the chapter ends, heightening tension. The narrative combines frontier action sequences with comic relief through Ajax's exaggerated dialect and theatrical panic.