Beadle's Pocket Library No. 313

This 1890 Beadle and Adams serial, "Honest Jack's Protege: The Dwarf's Scheme" by Philip S. Warne, follows the mountain partnership of grizzled hunter Honest Jack and his younger protégé Charley. When Charley discovers a spectacular crystal cave—described as a jasper cathedral with colored pillars and glowing formations—Jack becomes convinced it is cursed. He recounts a history of deaths connected to the cave: a tenderfoot found mangled at a cliff base, partners who murdered each other, a man who died mysteriously, and Jack's own former partner Joe who fled after visiting, babbling of the devil's call before drowning himself in a mountain stream. Despite Jack's warnings, Charley insists on moving their camp into the cave. That night, Charley experiences a nightmarish visitation by ghostly forms with icy touches before awakening—confused to find himself back at their original camp in snow-covered daylight, with Jack mysteriously unconscious.