Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 739

About this issue

The Border Beagle Ghost-Trail, by Jos. E. Badger, Jr. This frontier adventure serial follows Big Horn Buck, a white spy disguised as a Sioux, who infiltrates Sitting Bull's ghost-dance encampment to locate and rescue a half-blood youth named Davie Woodbridge, now calling himself Silverblade, son of Weenamoo. The narrative opens with Big Horn creeping into the camp under cover of darkness, approaching the sleeping figure of his former friend. He awakens Silverblade with whispered warnings, revealing he promised Silverblade's companion—"Little Sure Shot" or Enola—to bring him out. Silverblade, now a devoted ghost-dancer believing in the Indian Messiah, initially resists, claiming he is fully Sioux. Big Horn persists with quiet determination, eventually persuading Silverblade to leave the camp through careful escape. Their conversation emphasizes the ideological divide: Silverblade trusts in spiritual resurrection through the Messiah doctrine, while Big Horn warns of danger to white men.