Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 837

This 1894 Beadle and Adams dime novel contains "Curly Kid, the Cheyenne Sport; or, the Cool Captain in Crystal City" by Joseph E. Badger, Jr., a Western adventure serial. The opening depicts the capture of a cocky young drifter called Curly Kid by masked road agents led by the mysterious "Captain Clean-up." Despite threats and violence, Curly Kid maintains defiant bravado, repeatedly offering to help the bandits rob the approaching Crystal City stage. Meanwhile, the stage carries banker Nathan Manning and fellow passengers discussing the road-agent menace. Manning suspects Martin Castle orchestrates the robberies under the alias Captain Clean-up, noting Castle's convenient alibis and the gang's precise timing. The narrative intercuts Curly Kid's capture with the stage's approach, building toward an inevitable confrontation between the bandits, their captive, and the arriving coach.