Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 708

The Lucky Lad's Winning Hand This frontier adventure serial by Jos. E. Badger, Jr. introduces Light-heart Lute and his recently acquired companion, Lemuel Claybank, a man Lute rescued from near-death during his solo wanderings. The two prepare supper at an abandoned campsite, cooking game during an approaching storm. As they eat, a ghastly apparition emerges from the darkness—a man's face rising from the earth itself. After investigating cautiously, Lute discovers a shallow grave containing a brutally attacked stranger: an older miner or prospector with a gashed scalp and perforated chest, apparently murdered and hastily buried. Though barely alive, the man has managed to partially unearth himself. Lute and Lemuel dig him out completely and move him closer to the camp-fire for shelter, preparing to care for this mysterious victim of violence.