Beadle's Dime Library No. 934

Beadle's Dime Novels: "The Toll-Taker Tangle"

This 1896 Beadle and Adams serial adventure by Jos. E. Badger Jr. follows Sagebrush Sandy, "the Sport at Large," as he encounters lawyer Arnold Eades on a stage trail heading toward Skeleton Camp, a silver-producing region. Their conversation turns to the notorious Captain Crook, a mysterious bandit who robs stages with impunity from an unknown base. An ambush erupts: Crook's masked gang lassoes Eades from his horse, capturing him. Sandy, hearing Eades's cry, races toward the conflict but faces overwhelming numbers and gunfire. Wounded, Sandy's horse bolts toward a cliff overlook. The pursuing outlaws track blood and discover the horse's corpse on rocks below the precipice. They locate Sandy's felt hat midway down the cliff face, leaving his fate ambiguous. Eades remains prisoner of Captain Crook.