Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 721

About this issue

This is the opening installment of "A Romance of Arizona" by Will Lisenbee, a Western adventure serial. The narrative follows Frank Hammond, a young man of twenty-three who arrives in Desert City, Arizona, to join his father at a cattle ranch fifty miles away. After hiring a Mexican guide, Frank encounters an elderly prospector named Nat Barker, who warns him against trusting Greasers. That evening, the Mexican guide attempts to assassinate Frank with a knife—an attack Frank narrowly escapes. At the Desert Fountain Saloon, Frank is confronted by a bully named Bill Mockton, who deliberately provokes him into a fight. During their confrontation, someone grabs Frank's arm during a gunfight; Mockton fires at Frank but accidentally shoots a bystander named Beans Wiggins instead. The wound merely grazes Wiggins's forehead. The story combines frontier action with mystery elements regarding Frank's missing father.