The Frontier Detective

This Half-Dime Library issue (January 17, 1900) contains "The Frontier Detective: Sierra Sam's Scheme" by Edward L. Wheeler, author of the Deadwood Dick series. In the featured serial, a mysterious road-agent known as "Lady Lil"—whose true gender remains ambiguous—stops a stagecoach traveling between Shantyville and Bowieville. Lady Lil, masked and commanding, robs Judge Berkley and his daughter Louise of valuables despite Berkley's bluster. After securing diamonds and jewelry, Lil dismisses them with an enigmatic promise of future meeting. The issue also includes a publisher's catalog listing numerous Deadwood Dick, Jr. adventure novels by Wheeler, each priced at five cents. A secondary narrative introduction featuring a brawling giant called "Gouger & Co." appears incomplete in the available text.