Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 797

# The Bobtail Bonanza

By Leon Lewis, this mining adventure serial is set in the Lower Magdalena Mines of Central New Mexico near the Rio Grande. When prospectors abandon the exhausted claims, young New Yorker Johnny Geer alone remains, determined to work his claim—the Bobtail—despite its poor reputation. Other miners, including Doc Howlitt, Pistol Tommy, and Wall Pickens, depart after spreading tales of a supernatural "Little Old Hunchback" carrying a sack of silver—rumors Johnny suspects conceal a real man and a hidden mine. Captain Anson warns Johnny of Apache dangers and advises abandonment, but Johnny resolves to continue mining a few more days while awaiting his college friend Ned Morrill's arrival. The narrative follows Johnny's solitary persistence at 135 feet depth in his shaft as he becomes the camp's sole occupant, positioning himself to uncover the mysterious figure haunting the district.