Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 529

About this issue

This issue contains the serial "Deadwood Dick's Danger Ducks," the first installment of a Western adventure by Edward L. Wheeler, author of the Deadwood Dick series. The story opens with three men—Deadwood Dick Jr., a young detective famous throughout the West; Old Job Johnson, a weathered frontier character; and Nicodemus Noodle, an enslaved Black man—camped in Southern Oregon near the lava-beds while pursuing a fugitive murderer. When a young, injured woman appears at their camp fleeing unknown persecution, the men debate her situation. Two strangers then arrive and share the fire. One, John Smith, recounts an elaborate tale of a mysterious outlaw gang called the Owls inhabiting an island in nearby Lake Sylvan, allegedly led by a woman in white who guards rumored gold. Smith describes his failed attempts to reach the island and his brief imprisonment there before being released. The narrative promises adventure and treasure-hunting complications ahead.