Beadle's Dime Library No. 618

# "The Sphinx of Leadville" by Lieut. A. K. Sims

This serial installment opens in early Leadville during the silver-mining boom. Andrew Jackson Taggart, a broker and mining magnate, confronts a group of dissatisfied miners demanding shorter hours and higher wages. Taggart deflects their demands, claiming a committee of mine owners is investigating the matter. The confrontation is interrupted when a Concord stage arrives, having been robbed by road agents. Among the passengers is an injured gentleman who introduces himself as Charles Kennedy, known as "Kansas Karl." While recovering at Taggart's house, Kansas Karl recounts the stagecoach robbery: armed bandits emerged from the woods, and when he resisted, one shot him through the arm. Among the other passengers was a beautiful woman named Marsden from Denver, whose presence prevented him from continuing to fight back. The road agents robbed the stage of eight thousand dollars and mail.