Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 20

This issue of Beadle's Half-Dime Library (No. 20, 1877) contains Deadwood Dick's Defiance by Edward L. Wheeler, a sequel to the author's Deadwood Dick. The story follows a road-agent named Edward Harris ("Deadwood Dick") who defies the Deadwood Regulators after a skirmish in Big Lode Canyon. A rough miner intimidates a newspaper reporter into publishing Deadwood Dick's written challenge in the Pioneer, offering to kill a Regulator for each road-agent lost. The publication sparks sensational excitement and a one-thousand-dollar bounty. Dashing Dave, leader of the Regulators—a twenty-three-year-old borderman embittered by losses to outlaws—gathers with his men to discuss strategy. The narrative shifts to a young girl and a Black companion hiding in a canyon, apparently fleeing from mounted pursuers.