Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 531

The Border Blacksmith's Terrible Temptation by Wm. H. Manning is a Western adventure serial beginning its opening installment. Saddle-Chief Kit Jameson, a prairie wanderer known for skilled horsemanship, rescues Czarina King from her runaway horse Charon near the dangerous Bottomless Pits. After dramatically halting the maddened animal, Kit rides with Czarina to the village of Si Gotch to meet her guardian, Reverend Tyrington Perham. Czarina, a striking but austere brunette who professes to be a man-hater, rebuffs Kit's admiration and compliments, insisting on plainspoken courtesy alone. Despite her coldness, Kit resolves to remain in the village, impressed by her beauty and character. The narrative establishes a tension between Kit's frank admiration for women and Czarina's determined emotional detachment.