Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 1005

Museum Catalog Note This issue contains the installment novel "Deadwood Dick, Jr., Branded" by Ed. L. Wheeler, author of the Deadwood Dick series. The story opens with a railroad hold-up orchestrated by Captain Joaquin, who targets a train carrying bank funds from the closed Castleville National Bank en route to San Francisco. When the express car messenger resists the robbery by firing through ventilation slots and refusing to open the door, the robbers prepare dynamite for breach. Among the passengers is the protagonist Deadwood Dick, Junior, who takes independent action, killing two robbers and wounding another before being abandoned by cowardly fellow travelers. Inside the express car, dynamite proves effective; the messenger is killed by the blast. The robbers successfully seize multiple $10,000 packages. Captain Joaquin then resolves to capture Deadwood Dick personally, revealing he knows the detective's identity and intends retribution for Dick's prior interference with his gang's activities.