Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 406

About this issue

This pulp magazine issue features the opening of a western mystery serial titled "The Mad Man-Hunter," published by Beadle and Adams in 1885. The narrative follows Frank and his two companions, Charley and Diamond Dan, as they investigate a series of murders in the mining town of Golden Gulch. After a man named Mort Watson is discovered murdered—throat cut and a cross gashed on his forehead—Frank organizes a vigilante committee to find the perpetrator. When a second victim, Jake Yerka, is found murdered in identical fashion, the investigators realize the killer operates from outside their community, as all townspeople present account for themselves. While examining evidence, Dan spots a bizarre figure—a ragged, long-bearded hermit—dancing wildly on a distant canyon ridge before fleeing. The identity and motives of both the murderer and the strange hermit remain unclear as the mystery unfolds.