Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 58

*The Border King; or, The Secret Foe* by Oll Coomes, a frontier adventure serial. The narrative opens in November in the Montana wilderness near Panther Mountain, where a lone hunter, dressed as an Indian warrior and carrying fresh venison, struggles through an approaching blizzard on the desolate plain. Simultaneously, a bearded man named Herman Rochelle and a young woman, Camilla, ride desperately westward through the storm toward Black Pass, pursued by a growing pack of wolves. Camilla is distressed by Herman's cold demeanor and cryptic remarks about their worthlessness. As they traverse the frozen landscape, they glimpse a disembodied human head planted upright in the snow—a sight that horrifies Camilla. Emerging from Black Pass into the Tongue River valley, Herman discovers Camilla's horse has returned riderless, accompanied by wolfish cries from within the pass. Herman flees alone into the darkness.