Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 392

About this issue

This 1885 Beadle and Adams weekly publication presents "Romeo and the Reds," a frontier adventure serial set at Bancroft Ranch on the Rio Medina, Texas. The story follows the Bancroft family—widowed Benjamin Bancroft and his children Bertie and "Bandera Bill"—along with visitors Frio Frank and Creek chief Chiota and his wife Dancing Fawn. The plot involves rescue from Apache attacks led by Lone Wolf. When Romeo, the enslaved Black youth, and his dog Chunk are dispatched by horse to Castroville for help, the mustang inexplicably heads toward the Apache encampment instead. The narrative details Chiota saving Bertie from a rattlesnake and bear, Frank rescuing her and Dancing Fawn from Apache captors, and subsequent defensive preparations at the ranch as Lone Wolf's war party remains a threat. Tension escalates when additional Apache spies appear, and the women are hidden in a tree for safety while men prepare for attack.