Beadle's Pocket Library No. 305

About this issue

This western serial by Harry Hazard, published in Beadle's dime novel series, follows an emigrant wagon-train crossing the plains in 1854. The story centers on tension between Clara Calhoun, a beautiful young woman traveling with her father Major Calhoun, and Dusky Dick (Richard Rouzee), one of two hired guides. Though skilled at tracking and navigation, Dick has lost half his previous trains and harbors unspoken ambitions toward Clara. When he grows persistently forward despite her rebuffs—ultimately threatening that she will "crouch at [his] feet" and call him master—Clara reports him to her father. Tom Maxwell, the other guide, confirms Dick's dangerous nature, comparing him to a poisonous copperhead snake, and warns that someone with a grudge against the train could hire him for nefarious purposes. The narrative builds tension toward confrontation between Dick and Buenos Ayres, a young man traveling with the train.