Deadwood Dick Library: Sierra Sam's Double, No. 50

This issue of the pulp magazine contains "Sierra Sam's Double," a frontier detective story serialized under the byline of Edward L. Wheeler, author of the Deadwood Dick novels. The narrative begins when a cadaverous stranger named Junius Brutus Dunk arrives in the mining camp of Flumeville seeking the detective Sierra Sam. Dunk attempts to extort money by promising information about Sam's wealthy aunt and inheritance, but Sam reveals he already knows the scheme and uses an electrical trap hidden in a stool to paralyze Dunk, demonstrating superior cunning before ordering him to depart with a threat of violence if they meet again. The story then transitions to a stage coach scene introducing additional characters: a young girl in masculine frontier attire called "the Girl Sport," a disguised clergyman, a rough "bull-whacker," and a handsome man who bears striking physical resemblance to Sierra Sam himself. The narrative suggests forthcoming complications involving mistaken identity and deception.