Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 863

Buffalo Bill's Death Charm (serialized story, author unnamed)

This dime novel installment, copyright 1895 by Beadle and Adams, follows Buffalo Bill as he rescues a mysterious Mexican woman from a stampeding cattle herd. When her horse is killed by a bullet fired from ambush, Buffalo Bill retrieves a replacement mount from a nearby corral. The grateful woman gives him a valuable trinket—a ruby hand holding a pearl skull, suspended from a diamond owl pin—which she calls a "Death Charm," claiming it will protect his life as it has protected hers.

Later, El Cobras outlaws—Mexican desperadoes dressed in snake-skin costumes—capture Buffalo Bill, planning to execute him for allegedly stealing a horse. But when their leader notices the Death Charm glowing in the firelight, the outlaws are suddenly struck with amazement, halting the hanging. The story combines Western adventure, mystery, and the supernatural properties attributed to the talisman.