Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 474

"The Damsel from Deseret" by Joseph E. Badger, Jr.

This Western serial opens with protagonist Vesta Massey fleeing across rugged Utah territory on an exhausted horse, pursued by men from Deseret. Her antagonists include Wallace Massey (seeking to prevent her escape) and Eli Prosser (a suitor arranged by her polygamist father). Desperate to evade capture, Vesta scouts from high rocks, locates a pass through the hills, and charts an escape route. When a ruffian named Link Loper intercepts her in the canyon pass, positioned on the rocks above, he fires upon her horse despite her attempted flight. The animal, mortally wounded but miraculously remaining swift, carries her through a hail of bullets. The passage emphasizes Vesta's resourcefulness and defiance against those who would force her into a polygamous marriage, establishing themes of frontier pursuit and resistance to constraint.