Beadle's Pocket Library No. 198

# Ebony Dan's Mask; The Rival Leagues of the Mines

This serial adventure by Frank Dumont is set in the Colorado mining region around Silver Circle. A stagecoach carrying a treasure-box and passengers—including mine-owner Spencer Mason and his beautiful daughter Eleanor—traverses the dangerous Hell Gate canyon during a storm. Two rival outlaw gangs control the territory: Bully Bolton's band and a mysterious group of Black riders led by "Ebony Dan."

Bolton, disguised as an elderly passenger, reveals himself and attempts robbery, seeking vengeance against Mason over an unspecified shared crime. Just as Bolton seizes Eleanor, a horseman rescues her, followed by Ebony Dan's troop of mounted men who attack Bolton's gang, recover the treasure-box, and drive off the outlaws. Bolton, furious at losing his prey and unable to coerce Mason into submission, swears revenge while discussing with lieutenant Sid Wilson how to reclaim Eleanor and exact vengeance.