Judge Lynch Jr or The Boy Vigilante

This 1886 Beadle publication presents "Judge Lynch, Jr.: The Boy Vigilante" by T. C. Harbaugh. The serial follows a young vigilante operating in Cut-throat Canyon near the Black Hills, executing criminals with a garrote cord. Tom Terror, a notorious outlaw who escaped hanging from Custer City five months earlier, returns to the canyon seeking someone. He encounters Judge Lynch, Jr.—a skilled youth traveling with a woman named Myra—who uses a cord weapon similar to the "Thugs'" garrote. Lynch reveals himself as an independent executioner operating from "Satan's Tree," conducting traveling court sessions. The narrative establishes conflict between Terror and the young judge. A second chapter describes how the Custer City Vigilance Committee, organized to combat Thug bandits plaguing the stage route, discovers mysterious hanged bodies—Lynch's victims—suggesting an unknown avenger at work. The stage from Custer City enters the canyon as night falls, its driver eager to reach his destination.