Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 195

Deadwood Dick's Dream: The Rivals of the Road This dime novel installment, by prolific Western pulp author Edward L. Wheeler, presents "Deadwood Dick's Dream," a mining tale set near the new strike of Tombstone City. The narrative opens with the famous outlaw-turned-detective Deadwood Dick bound to a cottonwood tree on the prairie, betrayed by a Mexican companion named Cordova during an investigation into counterfeiters. Rescued by a U.S. Marshal and cavalry lieutenant, Dick explains that a recent dream revealed a gang of counterfeiters led by a female criminal called "Phantom Moll" operating near Tombstone, along with a young orphan cripple named Cora Clyde. The marshal deputizes Dick to investigate. Chapter II introduces Joe Rapp's stagecoach line connecting the mining settlements, running between Gloryville, Silverville, and Tombstone City, establishing the geographic setting for the action to follow.