Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 57

This installment of Edward L. Wheeler's serial "Deadwood Dick's Eagles: The Pards of Flood Bar" follows five miners at an isolated gold claim in the Black Hills during spring rains. The settlement's population comprises James Belmont (a Virginia miner), Old Buzzard (scout and meat supplier), the silent Squirrel Sam, pious Hooper Vandegrift, and the dwarf Miaco, mysteriously rescued from the creek. As torrential rains swell Squirrel Creek into a torrent, Flying Floyd—identified as Deadwood Dick's lieutenant—rides through the bar. Trapped between rising floodwaters and Gray Wolf's Native American forces controlling the bluffs, the miners shelter in giant linden trees as a burst dam sends a wall of water through the gorge. The narrative shifts to an adjacent valley where a well-dressed stranger observes the prosperous stone residence of Cyril Waltonby, contemplating infiltration while maintaining a disguise.