This Half-Dime Library issue from September 6, 1899, presents a catalog of Edward L. Wheeler's Deadwood Dick, Jr. novels (issues 443-1018), priced at five cents each, interspersed with the opening chapter of a new serial: "Bonanza Bill, the Man Tracker; or, The Secret Twelve" by Wheeler, author of the Deadwood Dick series.
The Bonanza Bill story, set in 1870s San Francisco, follows a drunk miner named Bill Barclay who arrives at the Crimson Palace saloon carrying a leather valise allegedly containing valuable papers relating to an English nobleman's estate worth millions. A woman named Edna Earle, working as a gambler and hostess known as the Diamond Queen, befriends him with suspicious interest. After plying him with alcohol and flattery, she convinces the inebriated Barclay to marry her and proposes visiting her father's house in the Chinese quarter to arrange a ceremony with a minister. The narrative strongly suggests predatory deception targeting the miner's money and documents.
About this artifact
- Date
- September 6, 1899
- Rights
- Public domain — free to view, share, and reuse.
- Restoration
- Digitally restored and hosted by comicbooks.com.
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