Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 522

This is the opening installment of "The 'Bellerin Bull' of Bismarck," a dime novel by Edward L. Wheeler, author of the "Deadwood Dick" series. Set in snow-bound Bismarck, Dakota during November, the narrative introduces a conspiracy involving three men: Duncan McDonald, a wealthy man-about-town; Professor Lucius Pillbury, a disreputable insurance agent; and Clay Coleman, a mysterious visitor from Chicago. McDonald and Pillbury conspire to convince the terminally ill Fred Fairfax—a grocer's clerk with a consumptive wife—to sign a will and life insurance policy naming his wife as beneficiary. The seemingly benevolent offer masks darker intentions. Coleman's unexpected appearance complicates matters, and his presence as witness unsettles the conspirators. The story begins with typical dime-novel melodrama of schemes, deception, and shadowy motives.