Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 50

# Jack Rabbit, The Prairie Sport

This dime novel by Joseph E. Badger, Jr. opens with a Gothic prologue set in the Southwest, where an owl witnesses a lovers' tryst interrupted by armed attackers who mutilate and lynch the male protagonist. The narrative then shifts to the Western frontier, introducing Jack Rabbit—a dandyish young prairie scout with uncommon marksmanship—and his elderly companion, Anthony Chew, a tough, silent frontiersman harboring intense hatred toward Native Americans. At a desert water-hole, the two men ambush a party of approaching mounted Indians, killing several in a skirmish before fleeing on horseback. Jack Rabbit's characteristic humor and Chew's barely-controlled rage dominate the action sequence, as the outnumbered pair exploit superior firearms and horsemanship to evade pursuit across the arid landscape.