Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 870

# Museum Catalog Note

The Enter Shot, by Joseph E. Badger, Jr., opens this 1895 Beadle and Adams dime novel with an adventure-laden mountaineering narrative. A small cavalcade traversing a narrow mountain trail—including lawyer Andrew Merrydew, his son Luther, guides Pritty Poll and Telescope Charley, and young woman Una Freestone—narrowly escapes death when a massive boulder dislodges above them, crushing Una's horse. Luther heroically rescues her from the debris, though his passionate gratitude creates tension when Una rejects his romantic advance.

The narrative then establishes the quest's foundation: years earlier, the mysterious Paul Solander vanished but left a will bequeathing a fortune to Una and Mark Bywater conditional upon locating hidden treasure in gold-country regions. Merrydew has discovered a clew leading to Peerless Flats, where an associate of the missing miner lives. Luther subtly suggests that when Una becomes wealthy, she might reciprocate his affections, while the maiden grapples with doubt about the entire endeavor's legitimacy, uncertain whether Solander was sane or delusional regarding his buried gold.