Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 398

# "Running Down a Double" by George C. Jenks

This western story features two related narratives. The main serial follows Black Bart, a stage robber operating in a California mountain gorge, who successfully hijacks the Santora stage coach, stealing a treasure box containing approximately $10,000 in gold and removing valuables from passengers. His attempt is interrupted when the driver, Joe, escapes his handcuffs and confronts him with a revolver. During their violent knife fight, a seemingly effete dude passenger intervenes, revealing himself as Sleepless Eye, the Pacific Detective, who overpowers the robber.

A parallel sequence introduces a lonely eighteen-year-old boy at a San Francisco residence whose father is away. Three mysteriously small men inquire after the boy's father (Doctor Milton) in succession. While the boy plays organ, three shadowy figures surround him in the darkened parlor—revealed to be these same dwarfish visitors with apparent sinister intent.