Beadle's Dime Library No. 392

This April 1886 issue of a Beadle & Adams dime novel presents Chapter IV of "The Boot of Silent Hound: A Tale of Three Millions" by Captain Howard Holmes, a prolific author of western fiction. The story opens in a Southern Colorado mining camp called Satanscrown, where three gamblers discover a mysterious corpse outside their cabin—a handsome, dark-skinned stranger shot through the heart. While searching his body, they find a tattoo over his heart: the deuce of diamonds. More disturbing, the dead man is tongueless, the wound long healed. The discovery particularly intrigues Ruby Rob, a prominent camp leader, who recalls a playing card of identical design that inexplicably jumped from a deck during the night's card game. Ruby Rob retrieves the dead man's boots and discovers a flat, oiled-silk-wrapped object hidden beneath one sole. Chapter II introduces Colorado Carlos, a famous desperado known for riding an iron-gray horse and issuing drafts on the fictional "Git-Thar Bank," always appearing well-armed despite seeming unarmed.