Beadle's Pocket Library No. 288

Deadwood Dick's Disguise This installment of the *Deadwood Dick* serial by Edward L. Wheeler presents two chapters. In the first, ferryman Old Dan Doomsday recounts to young Kate Laurel and her consumptive mother—newly arrived at remote Swamp Lake Ferry—how the legendary outlaw Deadwood Dick appeared at the crossing a year prior, fleeing pursuers with a fortune in gold. When Dan refused to ferry him across at night, Dick cursed the lake and spurred his horse into the water, disappearing. Since then, a spectral figure in white robes drifts in a canoe above the lake's center. Chapter Two jumps forward one year: the settlement has grown substantially after Kate decided to remain, attracted by mystery. Kate confesses to Dan her determination to resolve whether the apparition is truly Dick or supernatural, and mentions the arrival of "Wild Walt," described as vile, who seeks Dick's buried gold and has made unwelcome advances toward her.