Judge Lynch, Jr.; or, The Boy Vigilante

The Boy Vigilante This 1880 Beadle and Adams story by T. C. Harbaugh follows "Judge Lynch, Jr.," a youthful vigilante operating independently in Cutthroat Canyon, Black Hills. The narrative opens with Tom Terror, an outlaw who escaped execution by the Custer City vigilantes, returning to the canyon seeking vengeance. He encounters Judge Lynch Jr.—a determined young man accompanied by a woman named Myra—engaged in combat with Thug stranglers (criminals employing murder-cords). Lynch presents Terror with his calling card: "Judge Lynch, Jr. — Court always in session! Hangings cheerfully attended to at all hours!" Lynch operates a roving tribunal, catching and executing Thug criminals independently of the official Vigilance Committee. The narrative establishes Lynch as both hero and formidable opponent, having already eliminated multiple Thugs by hanging them from canyon rocks—bodies discovered by bewildered Vigilantes.