Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 438

This issue of the weekly pulp magazine, published March 16, 1887, contains "Boomer Ball's Surprise Party" by Jos. E. Badger Jr., a frontier adventure serial. The story follows Evander Wright, his daughter Otelia, and guide Nicholas Van Bibber ("Oklahoma Nick") as they flee across Oklahoma Territory in wagons, illegally settling in defiance of federal prohibition. Army scouts pursue them across the plains. As the group races to evade capture, an enormous tornado develops on the horizon—described in vivid detail through shifting cloud formations, an eerie greenish light, and supernatural atmospheric conditions. The narrative builds tension between two immediate threats: the soldiers closing behind and the advancing twister. The excerpt concludes as Oklahoma Nick recognizes the tornado and shouts a warning, pulling Otelia from the wagon as the cyclone bears down on the fleeing party.