Beadle's Dime Library No. 716

Museum Catalog Note: Emerald Ed of Devil's Acre This romantic wilderness adventure by Col. Prentiss Ingraham follows multiple plotted narratives in New Mexico mining country. The bound Sergeant—a former outlaw of conscience—refuses to participate in kidnapping when four gang members pressure him to ransom a young woman and her mother. The men depart instead to betray two Mexican fugitives to authorities, while the sergeant is rescued by Bessie Bond. Bessie harbors a dark secret: years prior, she married the outlaw Edward Vincent (now operating as Deserter Captain and Mexican officer Don Eduardo) to save the man she loves, Mexican Captain León Alvarez, from execution. Now separated from her unwanted husband and grieving her brother's death at the mining cabin they visit, Bessie believes Alvarez and his cousin are safely escorted away. She and her mother prepare to return northward with Sergeant Mayhew to their frontier ranch, unaware of the treachery awaiting the two Mexicans.