Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 64

This issue of Beadle's Dime Library contains "The Outlaw of the Chaparral," a Texas adventure tale by Jos. E. Badger Jr. The narrative opens at a frontier amphitheater where spectators witness the sport of Monte Parnaso—men competing to climb a greased live oak for silk handkerchiefs while a bull charges the arena. After the bull topples the tree, a massive grizzly bear is released to fight the animal. During the ensuing chaos, the barrier collapses, precipitating spectators into the arena. A young Mexican in ranchero dress uses a china-crape sash to evade the frenzied bear, then strikes it with a knife; cousins Mark Bird and Kirke Howard provide gunfire support, killing the beast. The scene shifts to the fairgrounds where the cousins observe a beautiful young woman in calico beside a rickety wagon, guarded by a shaggy musician and another attendant—establishing the apparent romantic interest central to the serial's title theme.