Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 858

# Deadwood Dick, Jr.'s, Death-Hole Hustle

Published January 2, 1894 by Beadle and Adams (price 5 cents), this dime novel by E.L. Wheeler continues the "Deadwood Dick" series. Chapter II opens in Deming, New Mexico, where two traveling companions—young Moses Mantell (called Magic Mose) and his older partner Pete Parrot, who carries a talking parrot—arrive seeking lodging. They visit the saloon "The Horn of Plenty" run by Merry Murray, where Mose amazes the crowd with ventriloquist magic, making snakes and toads appear on patrons. When the town tough Towser Terrel refuses to accept the trick's cleverness, he challenges Mose to a fight after being humiliated before the crowd. The text cuts off as they prepare to square off in the saloon, with spectators forming a ring around them to watch.