Beadle's Pocket Library No. 262

This issue of Beadle and Adams' dime novel (No. 262) features the opening installment of "Billy, the Boy Rover; Terror Tom, of Texas" by Col. Prentiss Ingraham. The story concerns a fearless sixteen-year-old protagonist, Blue-Eyed Billy, traveling through chaparral country who discovers a camp of the notorious Chaparral Pirates holding captive the legendary Texan borderman Terror Tom, who is scheduled for execution at dawn. Billy audaciously infiltrates the camp, cuts Tom free, and attempts their escape through a water-wash. Discovered by the pirate guard, Billy is captured by lasso while Terror Tom escapes on Billy's horse. Interrogated by Lieutenant Hal, the outlaw officer, Billy identifies himself as the Boy Rover and reveals he freed Tom to thwart the pirates, not for personal reasons. The officer threatens severe consequences when Captain El Bravo arrives at sunrise.