Beadle's Dime Library No. 572

# MUSEUM CATALOG NOTE

"Big Stakes for the Winner," by George C. Jenks, is a serialized crime story published in Dime Novel no. 012 (October 9, 1889).

Colonel Wright, a Civil War veteran, has purchased a valuable thoroughbred racehorse named Flash o' Light, planning to enter it in an autumn steeplechase against Captain Wood's horse. Head groom Snide Bill, a reformed horse-thief with a distinctive twisted neck from a lynching in Arizona, cares for the animal. Young stable hand Joe Morton discovers evidence that Snide Bill is engaged in criminal conspiracy. During a violent thunderstorm, Snide secretly admits two professional boxers—Kid the Skipper and Wilk the Tough—through the property's rear gate. They discuss stealing Colonel Wright's emerald jewel (valued at ten thousand dollars) and manipulating Flash o' Light in the race. Joe Morton intervenes when Snide Bill attacks Mose Lloyd, another stable worker, and separates him from the conspirators, suggesting Joe may be an undercover detective.