Beadle's Dime Library No. 92

About this issue

This 1880 Beadle & Adams serialized novel by Major Dangerfield Burr follows a dual narrative. The opening chapter depicts a plainsman singing on moonlit prairie who witnesses the assassination of a blonde man on horseback by two roughnecks claiming a bounty; the plainsman shoots both murderers in retaliation. The narrative then shifts to England, where Lady Geraldine mourns her fiancé Walter, believed killed on the American plains by Indians. His brother, Lord Varian Elphistone, arrives and offers marriage consolation. Upon learning Walter's death may be unconfirmed—a scout named Buffalo Bill reported the burial—Varian vows to investigate, promising to sail for America and employ Buffalo Bill as guide to verify the body's identity through distinguishing marks (missing thumb, broken leg). Lady Geraldine conditionally pledges herself to Varian should Walter prove dead. The narrative promises frontier adventure and potential romance contingent upon investigation of the mysterious prairie death.