Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 378

Nabob Ned; or, The Secret of Slab City By Edward L. Wheeler (author of *Deadwood Dick* and *Denver Doll* novels), this dime novel serial appeared October 21, 1884, in Beadle and Adams' weekly publication. The story concerns Slab City, a mining settlement twenty miles from Heron station in Montana Territory. John Smith founded the town on speculation but perpetrates a fraud—he plants gold samples throughout the gulch to attract prospectors. When discovered, angry miners lynch him. Nabob Ned, Smith's educated Eastern cashier, assumes control of the property. A prospective renter, Scotty Shannon, discovers Smith's corpse still moving and demands his money back. The body repeatedly resurfaces until re-buried deeper. Gold proves genuinely present; the camp booms. Meanwhile, Ned, a dapper small man of dandyish appearance, gambles at the Bung-Eye Hotel. A confrontation develops between Ned and Pedro Sperra, a dark-complexioned Mexican card player, over accusations of cheating. The narrative remains incomplete in this excerpt.