Beadle's Dime Library No. 409: Rob Roy Ranch

This issue of Beadle's Weekly (August 25, 1886) features "The Imps of the Pan Handle" by Jos. E. Badger Jr., a western serial set on Texas cattle ranches. The opening chapter, "A Tardy Bridegroom," introduces the wedding preparations for Della Dement and Fergus Cameron, scheduled for 8 P.M. at Rob Roy Ranch. Tension mounts as Cameron fails to arrive—guests gossip about the delay while the bride remains outwardly cheerful, though her father John Dement grows impatient. Complicating matters is Oscar Radford, a rival suitor whom Della previously jilted for Cameron; he attends the wedding despite his heartbreak. The narrative establishes a love triangle among characters divided between two neighboring ranches in the sparsely settled Pan-handle region, where ranching society follows unwritten rules of conduct. The chapter closes with Radford offering to search for the missing bridegroom, hinting at impending complications to the planned wedding.