The Black Rider

"The Black Rider; or, Life and Love on the Border," a dime novel by Jos. E. Badger Jr., concerns a band of masked horse-thieves operating on the frontier. The narrative opens with a midnight gathering where a captain coordinates raids on three neighboring farms—Miller's, Rauschelbach's, and Lansdown's—to steal horses. Joe Morey, the gang's scout, has poisoned Lansdown's guard dog with strychnine beforehand. During the Lansdown raid, Morey accidentally awakens the farmer John Lansdown when a horse treads on his foot, causing him to shout. In the ensuing chaos, Morey tackles the armed Lansdown to prevent him shooting the fleeing thieves, then escapes himself. Lansdown pursues the criminals alone despite his wife's protests, riding out to track them. The text establishes the criminal operation and frontier conflict driving the plot.