Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 990

This 1897 Beadle and Adams dime novel features "Bowie-Knife Ben, The Little Hunter of the Nor'-West: The Exiles of the Valley of Shadows" by Oll Coomes. The serial opens with Ben, a four-foot-tall dwarf scout of prodigious strength and bowie-knife skill, leading a hunting party across a Minnesota prairie storm to rescue Nathan Reeve, captured by Sioux Indians. The party encounters a mysterious phantom giant in the blizzard before locating the Indian camp. Ben infiltrates the camp, strangles one warrior and impersonates him to free Nathan, then kills the chief with a thrown knife. The narrative emphasizes frontier action, supernatural mystery elements, and Ben's exceptional combat abilities with his trademark weapons.