Beadle's Dime Library, No. 647

# "The Fresh of Frisco at Santa Fe; or, The Stranger Sharp" By Albert W. Aiken

This Beadle and Adams dime novel centers on Jackson Blake, a gambling sharper from California who calls himself "the Fresh of Frisco." The story opens in Santa Fe's plaza, where a mixed-race girl in Mexican attire stands armed with ivory-handled revolvers against an angry mob demanding her death. When Blake enters the crowd, he encounters Laff Pick, the town bully and "Missourian," who attempts to drive him away through mockery and threats. Blake responds with witty insults about Pick's prominent nose, escalating the confrontation. The fight itself is unconventional—Blake defeats the larger Pick not through boxing but by dodging his rushes, delivering stinging palm slaps to both sides of his face, and finally tripping and kicking him repeatedly in the dust until Pick surrenders. The narrative establishes Blake as a skilled, intelligent fighter who relies on quickness rather than brute strength.