Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 416

This issue of Beadle's Dime Novels (Vol. XXIII, No. 41, October 13, 1886) features the opening of a serialized Western story by Jos. E. Badger, Jr., titled "A Pack of Wolves." The narrative follows Frank Lisle and Alva Pennington, two passengers aboard a Northern Pacific Railway train near Bismarck, North Dakota during the railroad's western expansion. They witness and become entangled with a professional three-card-monte gang led by the charismatic gambler Monte Jim, a figure compared to the legendary Canada Bill. When Pennington, spotting a marked card, bets five thousand dollars on identifying the queen of hearts, Monte Jim attempts to warn him off, even disarming Pennington's revolver before permitting the game to proceed. The story emphasizes the predatory nature of frontier gambling operations and their victims during the era of rapid railroad development.